Remember Me Us
by LindsParker22
Summary: Emily is in an accident and is put into a medically induced coma. When she wakes up she is suffering from memory loss. She remembers up to about a week after Paige and hers wedding, but nothing of the last 17 years after that. Paige and their three kids do their best to help Emily remember everything that has happened in her life without falling apart as a family.
1. Chapter 1

**[Parker's POV]**

"Kacey, are you serious?! Shut up, some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Excuse me for having a life, unlike someone!"

"HA! Please, you wish you had my life. Now shut up and go to sleep or go elsewhere so I can."

"Lighten up Parker, it's only…1:23, oh wow it is really late. You should be sleeping, you have to get up in three and a half hours." I could sense the teasing in her response, before she said goodbye to whoever it was she was talking to on the phone, knowing that she was fully aware of what time it was and that I had training at 5:30.

"You're a terrible sister." I joked half-heartedly, before closing my eyes as Kacey settled down. Not more than five minutes later, just as I was falling asleep the phone began ringing. "Kacey really, you literally just hung up." I groaned and rolled over, opening my eyes to look at her as she let out a giggle and answered the phone. "Hello..."

I saw her face instantly drop as the person on the other line began to speak, "Yes that's my mom." I sat up quickly as tears began to stream down my little sister's face. "Kacey what's wrong?!" I asked frantically.

"Umm, hold on a second, I'll go wake her up." I saw Kacey quickly get out of bed and rush off to our mothers' room, as I jumped out of bed to follow.

 **[Paige's POV]**

I woke up to someone aggressively shaking me, "Mom, get up. Something happened to Mama."

I sat up rubbing my eyes, opening them up to a crying Kacey in front of me and a wide eyed Parker standing in the doorway of the room. "Mmm, what's wrong?" I asked groggily, not fully awake yet.

She handed me the phone before rushing to bury her face in Parker's shoulder. Parker just shrugged at me with a scared look on her face before wrapping her arms around her sister tightly. I put the phone to my ear not really knowing what to expect, "Hello?"

"Yes, Mrs. Fields-McCullers?"

"Yeah, this is she. Is there something I can do for you?" I asked unsure as too what was going on.

"Yes, I am at the Philadelphia Hospital. There was an accident just outside the city and Emily Fields-McCullers was involved, I believe she's your wife."

I shot off of the bed, frantically looking around for a pair of shoes, as I continued to speak to the woman on the phone. "Yeah that's my wife, is she okay?! What happened? I-I'm on my way right now." I threw on a pair of sneakers, and turned my attention back to the woman on the phone as she began to speak again, "She's in surgery right now, we can discuss her condition once you arrive." I quickened my pace as I hung up the phone and tossed it up onto the bed.

"Mom, what the hell is going on?!" I looked up, completely forgetting that the girls were in the room with me. Kacey was now sobbing loudly into Parker's chest as they stood in the door way of the bedroom, Parker clearly trying to figure out why everyone was in such a panic.

"Your mother was in an accident, I have to get to the hospital." I said rushing past her, "Stay here with your sisters and I'll call you as soon as I figure out what's going on." I saw Parker tense up as I waited for her to nod at me before I sprinted down the stairs and out the door.

I sped to the hospital. The entire ride I couldn't help put imagine Emily, the love of my life, covered in blood going through some sort of surgery. I didn't have much information at all on what had happened to her and my mind couldn't help but wander to the worst cases possible. What if she dies? How am I supposed to do this on my own? Without her? My head was spinning with all of the things that could happen to her. I didn't even know how bad the accident was, but if she was rushed into surgery it had to be bad right? I shook the thought from my head trying to not allow myself to go there.

Before I knew it my car was at a complete stop outside of the front of the hospital. I knew I had to get out of the car and inside the building. I knew I had to get to her. But I couldn't move. My body was paralyzed with fear of what kind of news was waiting for me inside. I rested my head on the steering wheel and took a couple of deep breaths as I tried with everything I had to wish for the best once I entered the hospital. I slowly lifted my head and exited my car before quickly walking into the hospital and straight to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm here for Emily Fields-McCullers. I was told she was in s-surgery." The nurse shot me a sympathetic smile before looking at her computer and informing me that she was still in surgery and then asking me if I could fill out some paperwork while I waited around for her.

I was led to a small waiting room, apparently close to where Emily's room would be once she was taken out of surgery. I sat down finally allowing everything to sink in as I filled out the papers that were given to me. I finished quickly and found a nurse, asking how much longer it would be before I heard anything on Emily. She told me that it would probably be another hour or so before she was out and the doctor would come find me to inform me on her condition and stability.

I paced around the room before deciding that it would be a good idea to call our oldest child and let her know that I'd probably be here for the rest of the night. I slowly reached for my phone and called the house, dreading the questions Parker would have.

The phone hardly got one ring out before Parker answered, making it obvious that she had been waiting for my call. "Mom?! Is she okay?!"

I sighed heavily because I didn't know much more than Parker had, "I don't know Park. She's in surgery right now, her nurse said that the doctor would come speak to me as soon as she was out, but it probably won't be for a while." I could hear her sniffling on the other end of the line, trying her best not to cry.

"Surgery? She needed…she's…I-it's that bad, huh?" I sat down, leaning forward to rest my head in my free hand. I could hear her struggling to keep it together and I knew Parker was like me, always jumping to the worst scenario. I was probably going to be at the hospital all night and didn't want her to freak out while I wasn't around for her.

"She's going to be fine honey. Don't worry okay. How are your sisters?" I asked trying to steer her away from worrying about Emily. I was hoping that Kacey had fallen asleep and that Taylor had never woken up at all.

"No, yeah they're fine. Taylor's still sleeping and Kace fell asleep a little while after you left. She's really scared mom, so am I. What if-" I cut her off immediately, scared of what was about to come out of her mouth.

"She's not." I said as convincingly as I could, which wasn't very good considering it came out as a shaky whisper as I myself struggled to hold myself together. By this point Parker had thrown trying to be strong out the window and was wailing on the other end of the phone. I cursed myself for leaving her at home alone with no one to take care of her. She had always been strong like Emily, although she came from me. Sometimes I forgot that she needed someone there for her too.

"Baby, calm down okay. She's going to be fine. We're going to be fine, alright." At this point there wasn't a dry eye involved in this conversation and I was struggling to find the right words to calm her down. "I'm sorry I left you by yourself, I can call someone to come over if you want?" I asked even though I knew very well who it was that she wanted. She had always been the closest to Em. Even as a kid I could never break those two up. If something were to ever happen to her, it would tear this kid apart.

"No, it's fine. I just want Mama to come back home." Her voice was low and for the first time in a long time my put together daughter sounded completely broken.

I managed to choke out a simple, "Me too." There was a short silence due to neither of us knowing exactly what to say, "I love you Parker." She had managed to regain her composure now and I could only hear soft sniffling rather than her loud cries that filled the line before.

"I love you too Mom. Call me as soon as you see her, I'll be up."

"You got it kiddo." As I hung up I leaned back, suddenly realizing that if something bad happened to Emily that this family was going to, most likely, completely fall apart without her.


	2. Chapter 2

**[Paige's POV]**

I decided that it was best to call Emily's parents and let them know what was going on, as well as mine. Emily's parents still lived relatively close to us and were already on their way over to the hospital. And as for my parents, they lived in California and were going to try to find a flight out here as soon as they could. I wrapped up the phone calls quickly and walked back into the waiting room as I noticed a doctor looking around.

He looked at me with a questioning glace as I rushed over to him, "Fields-McCullers?"

I nodded my head quickly, relieved yet anxious about finally being able to hear what was going on. "Is she okay?" I asked, half scared of the answer.

"I'm Dr. Ashton Lopez, why don't we have a seat and we can discuss what's happening with your wife." He gestured behind us to a pair of chairs and then sat down slowly as I followed his movements. "So?" I asked desperately for any information on Emily.

"The surgery was a success and she made it out in better shape than we had originally thought." I nodded slowly as I sat on the edge of my seat, letting out a sigh of relief that she hadn't passed, which had been my main concern all night. I stared up at the man in front of me, waiting for him to go on. "She did however sustain a serious blow to her head during the accident and we have put her into a medically induced coma in hopes of her healing faster." I nodded as if I had understood even though I wasn't sure I was fully processing everything that was being said due to lack of sleep and my head spinning from fear of her being dead just moments before.

"So she's going to be okay then?" I asked, feeling a little more hopeful than I was previously. When the doctor averted his eyes back down to the clipboard full of papers in his hands and sighed, my fear was instantly restored. "Right?"

He made a noise as if to say he wasn't sure as his head bobbed around, "Well she should recover physically, however we are not sure what to expect from her once she wakes up." I looked up at him unsure of what he meant, but before I could ask he had already took it upon himself to answer my questions as if he knew I wasn't completely functioning right due to my lack of sleep an panic. "Well you see Mrs. Fields-McCullers, we are concerned about head trauma from the blow she took. In cases like Emily's we tend to see a lot of memory loss. Now in what form that comes, if any, we won't know until we take her out of the coma and are able to speak with her."

I looked up at him, my concern flooding back, "you think she's going to have memory loss?"

"Like I said, it is more common than not in cases such as these, but we can't be certain yet." I nodded knowing there was not much more he could tell me at this point, "How long are you planning on keeping her in a coma for?"

"Oh not long. Maybe a couple of days, just to help her body recover. She has a pretty substantial amount of cuts and bruises but nothing serious, other than her head of course." I nodded once again as I let everything sink in. As if he knew what my next question was he regained my attention when he spoke up, "We are getting her settled into her room right now. We'll send someone out to show her to her room in a couple of minutes. If you have any questions or concerns, just ask for me and I'd be happy to talk to you." He threw me a sympathetic smile before I thanked him and I was once again left alone. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was already almost 7a.m. I figured I should try calling Parker before I saw Emily, just to let her know that she was out of surgery and for the most part completely fine.

I was surprised when the phone rang more than once, but figured that at some point she must have fallen asleep waiting up for my call. "Mmm, hello?" I couldn't help the smile on my face from hearing the groggy voice that belonged to Kacey. She coming from Emily slept like the dead. I swear both of them could sleep through tornados, hurricanes, or any natural disaster for that matter.

"What are you doing up sweetheart? It's Saturday usually we have to drag you out of bed screaming." I imagined her rolling her eyes at my slight teasing, knowing that she was usually grumpy in the mornings. "Ha ha mom, you're hilarious. Have you heard anything about mama yet? Is she okay?"

"Yeah she's doing good. Can I talk to Parker?" Although Kacey was only a year younger than Parker, I felt more comfortable discussing the matter with our eldest before letting the others in on anything serious. Parker seemed to usually handle situation with a certain ease and was very helpful when it came to helping the other girls understand things that weren't always good.

"She's not here. You'll have to call her cell if you want to talk to her, but I don't know if she'll answer. She was kind of moody this morning when she woke me up to let me now she was leaving." I could hear the tinge of sadness in her voice and assumed that something happened between them this morning.

"What do you mean she's not at home, where did she go?" I was surprised that Parker would just leave the two other girls home alone under the recent circumstances. "She went out training at 5:30."

"Are you serious?" I was frustrated that she would go out the morning after her mother was in a serious accident, leaving her sisters to take care of themselves. "Alright, well are you guys okay? Do you want me to come home and get you?" I asked starting to worry about them having a hard time with this and not wanting them to have to deal with it alone.

"No we're fine. Have you seen Mama yet?" I could hear the hesitation in her voice. Kacey being the most emotional in the family, I knew she was finally conscious enough to realize that last night really happened and she was beginning to cry.

"No I haven't. She just got out of surgery, so they are going to let me see her when she gets into the room she's going to be staying in. But she's alright, so don't worry. I got to go but I'll call you later okay."

She sniffled before replying, "Okay. I love you Mom. Tell Mama I love her too." I sighed, realizing I hadn't mentioned that her mother was in a coma at the moment but decided to leave it out for now "I love you too Kace. I'll tell her. Get some rest alright, I know it was a long night."

As soon as I hung up the phone I decided to call Parker's cell real quick, since there was no sign of anyone coming to lead me to Emily's room. "Hey mom, is she out of surgery? Is she okay?" I could hear her breathing heavy and knew she was out running.

"Parker what the hell are you doing out training right now. I just talked to your sister and she's crying and who knows what she's going to do with Taylor once she gets up and has to tell her where everyone's at." I knew my voice was coming out harsher than I intended, she didn't do anything wrong, but I was just frustrated and for some reason was taking it out on her. I knew it wasn't right but I couldn't seem to calm myself down.

 **[Parker's POV]**

I felt myself start to grow angry. Was she seriously yelling at me right now?

"They aren't my kids! Kacey is practically the same age as me, it's not my fault she can't handle herself. I have a big meet this weekend and I can't slack off!" Honestly, I don't know why I said any of that. I knew my sister was overly emotional and I really wanted to be there for her, but as I sat on the couch and watched her sleep she reminded me too much of mama. They looked so much alike that it was fueling the images of a lifeless body that was my mother in my head. I could hardly bring myself to look at her when I told her I was leaving.

And the meet meant nothing to me right now, but I just needed to get out of that house. I couldn't sleep, which was why I was staring at Kacey while she did. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her lying on some bed, bloody and with doctors swarming around her. I needed to clear my head, I needed to do something with myself to make it stop.

"No they aren't your kids but you could help me out here Parker! Your mom's in the hospital for god's sake, stop worrying about swimming and get your ass home!" It wasn't like mom to yell at us. Mama was usually the one who had to be the tough parent. Mom had a hard time putting us into our place and reminding us who was in charge. Mama on the other hand, had no problem with it. I knew everyone was on edge today due to not getting enough sleep and that none of us should be fighting right now, but I couldn't go back home. I couldn't lose it in front of Kacey or Taylor, I was supposed to be the strong one that took care of everyone, just like Mama.

"Is she okay or not?!" I just wanted to know she was still alive. I needed to get the image of her bloody body out of my head. I needed to know she was breathing and she'd be back home soon.

"No Parker she's not fine! She's in a medically induced coma and she may have memory loss when they pull her out of it! This isn't a game Parker, go home!" I instantly felt my legs get weak beneath me as I struggled to catch my breath as I felt my chest tighten. I couldn't handle any of this, it was too much. I had never heard my mom yell out like that, ever which made me believe that this was serious. I could hear her sigh on the other end of the phone, trying to calm down. "Parker, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" I could tell she was crying as she stopped, trying to figure out what to say next. "I-I…she's going to be fine. They're going to let me see her, but they are going to keep her in a medically induced coma for a couple of days to help her heal."

"You still there?" I couldn't bring myself to say anything back. My head was spinning and I wasn't sure what all of this meant. "Parker, please. I'm sorry, it's just been a long night, I didn't mean to blow up on you like that. You didn't do anything wrong honey." I could tell that she was kicking herself for telling me about Mama's current state like that and getting mad at me. I knew she was probably going through the same thing as me and was just frustrated.

I knew I should reassure her that it was fine, which it was, and I wasn't taking it personally due to the circumstances. But I was struggling to get anything out. "I got to…I can't right now…I just, I got to go." I hung up before she could reply and then I lost it. I couldn't stop the loud cries as I screamed and thrashed around in the woods like a crazy person. I couldn't lose her. None of us could lose her. She had been unconscious for less than 24 hours and we were already a mess. She made everything better for all of us. She always knew what to say and when to not say anything at all.

I cried like I never had before. I cried for her, I cried for mom, I cried for no reason and for every reason I could think of. I couldn't bring myself to stop, so I just let it out until I slipped into unconsciousness at the bottom of a tree in the middle of nowhere hoping that when I woke everything would be okay.

 **[Paige's POV]**

Fuck. Why the hell did you do that!? I quickly redialed Parker's number, knowing she wasn't going to answer, but feeling like I needed to make sure she knew everything was going to be okay. As I began to dial her number for a fourth time someone lightly tapped on my shoulder. I jerked around to find Emily's parents standing before me.

"Paige what happened? Is she okay?" Pam was already in tears and I could tell that she had been for a while now as she gripped her husband's arm tightly.

"She's fine Pam. She's out of surgery and everything went well. They put her in a medically induced coma though, so she'll be out for the next couple of days." I could see the slight relief in her eyes knowing that Emily was going to make it out of this, but like me still a little fear due to the coma.

"How are you and the kids holding up?" I instantly was pissed at myself when I remembered blowing up on Parker no more than 10 minutes ago. "Umm…" My gaze dropped to the floor before I felt Pam's arms around me, "It's been a lot on me and Parker, and she knows everything that's going on so it's been a long couple of hours. Kacey doesn't know everything and Taylor doesn't know at all so they're holding up alright."

"Do you want to go home for a while, since we know she'll be unconscious for a couple of days anyways? We'll stay here until you get back." I nodded, knowing that I had to go talk to Parker about all of this. "Do you mind if I go in and see Emily before I leave? I haven't gotten to yet."

"Of course dear, take your time. We'll wait for you here." I nodded again before I headed off to find a nurse to tell me where Emily was.

I was led to a room and left alone outside of it. I took a deep breath as my hand latched onto the doorknob, still slightly scared of what I was going to find on the other side.


	3. Chapter 3

**[Paige's POV]**

I slowly entered the room, scared to lift my eyes from the floor as I heard the sound of the machines running within the room. I took one more deep breath before closing the door behind me and looking up at my wife with tear filled eyes. The doctor was right, she had a lot of cuts and bruises on the exposed part of her body that were visible at the moment. I dragged my feet to the chair sitting next to her bed and plopped myself down, my body suddenly feeling heavier than ever before.

I grabbed her hand and intertwined our fingers the best I could without her participating. "Gosh Em." I sighed heavily, dragging my fingers lightly over the cuts on her face, as I examined every mark that hadn't been there the last time I saw her. "Em, babe, I need you here so bad," my crying had intensified by now, "we need you more than you'll ever know." I was never good with words that was another thing that Emily was good at. She seemed to be better at everything now that I was thinking about it. We had been together since high school. She'd been in my life for so long that I had forgotten what it was like to not have her here. It was a scary place, a world without her in it. It was a world that I wasn't sure the girls and I could survive in.

"Please be okay Em. I can't raise them without you. I already messed up with Parker and I just don't know what to do. I'm scared you're not going to be okay. I love you so much and I have my whole life, I don't even remember how to live without you, I don't want to have to either. I just…I just really love you Em. Please be okay." I couldn't hold myself together as I laid my head in her lap and cried uncontrollably. I was interrupted when there was a knock at the door. I slowly lifted myself out of the chair and bent down to kiss Emily briefly before I made my way to the door, expecting Pam.

"Sorry honey. I just wanted to make sure you were okay in here, I know it's probably a lot." I nodded as I tried to pull myself together. "I should probably get going, but I'll be back once I talk to the girls. I need to sort a few things out."

"That's fine dear. If you need anything, you just call and let us know okay?" She gave me another hug as I whispered a 'thank you' into her ear before forcing myself to leave Emily behind and out of the hospital to find my car.

I drove home slowly trying to compose some sort of speech in my head for the girls once I got home. I pulled into the driveway and entered the house to be met by a clearly unaware Taylor.

"Mommy!" I bent down and caught her as she ran into my arms, not realizing how much I needed a hug from someone. She locked her arms around my neck as she pulled back to look at me, resting in my arms. "Is Mama with you? Kacey said you were with her." Her eyes darted around behind me furiously looking for Emily.

"No honey. Mama's sick so she has to stay somewhere else for a couple of days." Taylor's face dropped at the mention that Em wouldn't be around for longer than her liking. She looked up at me confused, "Well then can you take me to see her?"

"Yeah, maybe tomorrow okay munchkin." She nodded happily before resting her head on my shoulder, signaling that she didn't want to be put down. I tightened my grip around her before walking towards the living room in hopes of finding Kacey or Parker.

I saw the TV flicker off as Kacey peaked up behind the couch to see who walked in. "Hey mom, how is she?" Kacey shimmied herself into a sitting position tucking her legs into herself to make room for Taylor as I gently laid her down next to her sister. "I told you Kace, she's fine. Just has to stay at the hospital for a couple of nights. I need to talk to all of you, where's your sister at?"

Kacey's eyes quickly left mine and darted around the room, "well, umm, she never really came back home." I looked across the room at the clock and saw that it was already after 4 p.m. I had talked to her hours ago and she definitely wasn't still training. "What do you mean she never came home? Have you talked to her?" I asked a little scared.

"I called her a couple of times, but she never answered. She was acting really weird this morning. She could barely look at me mom, she just said she needed to get out of here and then she ran out of the house saying she was going to go for a run." I could tell Kacey was nervous about her being gone for so long, Parker wasn't the kind of kid that ran off and disappeared for the day.

"It's okay baby, I'm going to head out and look for her alright. It's going to be okay, I'm sure she's okay, she's probably just a little shaken up from mama being in the hospital." I walked around the couch, bending down to hug her tightly for the first time all day.

"I thought you said mama was okay though." Kacey was now crying against my chest and I knew I had to tell her what was really going on. "She is going to be alright, but the doctors have her in a medically induced coma right now so we won't be able to talk to her for a couple of days. And while she is going to be fine they won't know how much damage the accident had on her head until she wakes up."

Kacey looked up at me and it was like I was staring right into Emily's eyes, "What does that mean?" I felt myself getting lost in how much Kacey looked like Em when she was in high school. They had the same caramel skin and their features were practically identical. I ran my fingers through her dark hair as she relaxed against me. "She is. There just might be a couple of things we have to deal with once she wakes up. But she's going to be good as new in no time, okay?"

I felt her nod her head against me as she remained silent her crying coming to almost a complete stop. "Will you and Tay be alright here for a little while, so I can go find your sister?" She nodded again before loosening her grip on me. I kissed her head before standing up and grabbing my keys leaving the house with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I had been driving around for a while before deciding that maybe she continued to walk her usual run instead and was still on the course. I pulled my car over and began walking the path through the woods that is Parker's typical morning run. I walked almost the entire path until I saw a body slumped against a tree a little bit down the way. I quickened my pace as I made my way towards her and stopped at her feet.

I slowly dropped down next to her and put my arm around her body pulling her into me. She groaned as she snuggled closer to me as I ran my hand up and down her side. "Mama?" It was hardly audible and I hated myself for taking my frustration out on her when she finally looked up at me. "Sorry, just me baby." I saw the corners of her lips slightly curl as her eyes slowly began to close again, "I guess you'll do for now."

I smiled as she lowered her head back down to rest on my chest and she cuddled as close as she could to my body. "I'm really sorry about earlier. I don't know what came over me, it was just too much for me to handle and I don't know I'm a little lost without her I guess." She let out a small breath that sounded like a laugh.

"Aren't we all?" She stated it as if it was obvious that we were a mess without Emily.

"She's going to be okay you know. They're going to pull her out of the coma in a couple of days and then she'll be fine." I was dreading telling her about the possibility of Emily having memory loss, but I had already told Kacey and she would eventually tell Parker if I didn't. "She may have some complications though once she wakes up."

Parker looked up at me quickly with her mouth slightly open as if she was going to ask something but nothing came out. "The doctor says that in cases like hers memory loss is common. But they won't know for sure until she wakes up." I waited for her to freak out, but she simply laid her head back down on my head and nodded to show that she understood.

"I love you mom." Her arms curled around me and tightened as mine did the same, "I love you to kiddo." We sat there against the tree in each other's arms until the sun went down and we figured we'd better get home to the others before they got worried.

 **[A few days later]**

It had been a week and I was sitting in the car waiting for the girls to come down. Today was the day they were going to wake Emily up and find out what kind of trauma she sustained. Things had gotten better with everyone, splitting time between the house and the hospital with all three girls. Each of them had seen Emily a few times and had settled to the possibility of her having some sort of memory loss. They all tried to stay positive, but it finally being the day we were going to find out for sure how bad it was had everybody a little on edge.

We had finally reached the hospital and were all seated in the waiting room while the doctors took her out of the coma. They wanted to make sure that Emily was stable and not overwhelmed when she woke up if she had any type of memory loss by us being in the room, so we had to wait out here until further notice. Everyone was a little anxious and I noticed that no one could stay still in one spot for more than 2 minutes. After a while Dr. Lopez came walking into the room and I jumped to my feet, rushing to his side.

"Well? Is she awake, is she alright? How's her head? I'm sorry feel free to jump in at any time, I'm just a little nervous." I heard Parker and Kacey snickering behind me as I rambled on.

"Yes, Emily is awake and we ran some tests on her. Do you mind if I speak to you in private before I take you in to see her, she's asking for you?" I couldn't help the wide smile spreading across my face as I nodded my head, hardly being able to contain my excitement that she not only was awake, but that she remembered me.


	4. Chapter 4

**[Paige's POV]**

I excitedly made my way down the hallway towards Emily's room following closely behind Dr. Lopez. When he came to a stop just outside of her door I caught the slight look of nervousness on his face before he spoke, "So everything appears to be fine with your wife. She has made great strides in recovering for only being in a coma for a week. However, like I had worried, the blow to the head did do a little bit of damage." My happiness at this point had been taken down a couple of notches due to the new information.

"But I thought you said she was asking for me, so it can't be memory loss right? I don't think I understand what you're getting at." I looked at him a little worried about what was going to come out of his mouth next.

"Well she does have some memory, but unfortunately she only remembers up to a certain point in time. We were asking her a couple of questions to see exactly where it is that her memory cuts off and it appears that she can only remember up to about a week or two after you were married."

My happiness at this point was gone and replaced with pure shock. She couldn't remember a little less than half of her life. A week after the wedding? That means she hardly remembers anything after college. Oh my god, she's not going to remember the kids. My head was spinning with possibilities that seemed to be endless before the doctor snapped me back into reality.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but I need you to stay calm. We can't tell in these cases whether or not her memory will return. Sometimes it's back in a few weeks and sometimes it never returns." I nodded slowly at him to show that I was following everything he was saying before he continued, "You may want to go at her pace in informing her on events in her life that she can't remember as of right now so she doesn't feel to overwhelmed. Also we'll release her within the next couple of days. It is good for people with memory loss to be in familiar places in order to try to restore as many of those memories as possible. Pictures, videos, simply just retelling stories of her life may help jog her memory back, but like I said there are no guarantees."

I nodded again before he left me alone to go into the room and speak to Emily myself, which I was now a little scared to do. I had never experienced anything like this and wasn't completely sure how it was going to go once I went in, but I wanted to see her so bad that I burst into the room without thinking much about it.

My eyes instantly met hers and when she smiled at me I swear time stopped as my knees wobbled beneath me. I don't remember ever crossing the room to get to her but I must have at some point because I now had a death grip on my wife as I sobbed into the crook of her neck. "You scared me so much Em. Please don't ever leave me."

Her grip tightened around me as she rubbed her hands soothingly up and down my back. "I'm sorry baby, I dint mean to make you worry, even though you always had been good at that." I smiled against her neck as she teased me, reminding me of the one thing I was always good at when it came to her.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I pulled away from her slowly and took both of her cheeks into my hands as I observed her tired face, "You don't look like you've been getting much sleep." She smiled down at me as she laughed as if I had just stated an obvious fact.

"Well I think to say that it's been a hectic week would be an understatement. I never realized how much you did, everything was a mess the minute you went unconscious. Although I'd say everyone pulled themselves together pretty well after the first couple of days." I couldn't help but lean up and pull her lips down into mine. Although I felt like I hadn't been apart from her at all, for some weird reason I still felt like I missed her.

I felt her smile against my lips before I pulled away looking back at her. "So you managed to survive without me for a week huh?" Paige settled into the chair next to the hospital bed before letting out a puff of air, "Barely. Seriously I've hardly slept and you know how bad I am in a kitchen. I've eaten nothing but Chinese food for the last week, it was like freshman year of college all over again and we both know how that ended."

I couldn't help but smile at the memory of me and Paige stuffing our faces with Chinese food every night in our dorm room the first couple of weeks of college. Neither of us had access to a kitchen and even if we did at that point in time we were both terrible cooks. The Chinese food had come to an abrupt stop though a few weeks later after Paige had gotten sick one night and was convinced that her body was begging her to stop. After that we simply stuck to the deli down in the cafeteria.

"I don't think we ate Chinese food again for at least a year." Paige laughed, never taking her eyes off of mine. "So did I miss anything good while I was out cold?" I asked in a teasing tone that I was sure Paige would pick up on but she looked around the room with an anxious look plastered on her face.

I reached out and grabbed her face with one hand setting her gaze on me, "Look I know the doctor said something about minor memory loss, but you can fill me in. It's going to be okay babe."

"I don't know what the doctor told you Em, but I think it's considered to be more than a minor case of memory loss. He said you only remember up to the point of maybe a week after our wedding." To be honest I wasn't really paying that much attention to the doctor when he was in my room. Instead I was worried about them finding Paige and letting her come see me. When he said something about memory loss I didn't think much of it because I felt fine and I just pushed it aside.

"So how long have we've been married then?" I didn't know if I was ready for the answer now, but the look on Paige's face was scaring me. And her being so hesitant wasn't helping either. "It's okay Paige, you're going to have to tell me at some point anyways, let's just get everything out there." I reached down for her hand and intertwined our fingers to reassure her that it was okay.

I saw Paige's lips move as a whisper of few words came out that weren't audible. I squeezed her hand tighter in order to tell her again that it was okay, "I can't hear you Paige."

"17 years." My eyes widened as she softly spit out the way larger time period then I had originally expected.

"Okay so I missed a TON while I was out cold." I stated trying to lighten the mood a little, but Paige just stared at me with a blank expression not liking my response.

"Come on Em, it's not funny." I nodded my head in agreement as my gaze dropped to my lap. "I know it's not Paige and I know this must be hard for you, but I honestly don't feel like I missed anything at all. I feel like we just got married and I don't know I just don't know what else to say…I can't remember."

Paige nodded to show that she understood where I was coming from, "No I know Emily. It just is a little surreal, that's all. I'm glad you're not freaking out about it or anything like that though. The doctor said that everyone takes the news differently and to be prepared for anything." I nodded down at her as I wondered about all that can happen in 17 years.

As if Paige was aware that I had to of had a million questions she stood up and sat down on the bed next to me allowing me to rest my head on her chest as I leaned into her, "The doctor said that it's best to answer any questions that you have and to just tell you about your life now. You know, to help jog your memory or something. He said sometimes it can come back if you help the patient remember."

I leaned myself further into Paige wondering where I should start. When I felt her kiss the top of my head I decided to start with the obvious, "So I guess we're still married then." Paige let out a small chuckle. "Yep, 17 years strong and I've only had to sleep on the couch like twice, so I'd say were doing pretty good."

"Really?" I asked kind of surprised.

"No I'm sure I've slept on the couch more than twice but you can't remember so might as well get rid of a couple fights huh." I nudged her gently in the side with my elbow as she laughed, "Come on Paige that's not fair! You have to tell the truth."

"Okay, okay. I definitely have slept on the couch more than twice, but we've been married for 17 years and I don't think we've reached double digits yet on the couch situation so still, pretty good." I could feel her body shaking slightly against my body as she continued to giggle, "Are you sure? Because you seem like more of a handful than you used to be and that says a lot." I teased as we fell back into a comfortable silence.

I thought about the next question I was going to ask and I think we both knew what that question would be. But I was nervous, a part of me knew that if we have been married for 17 years then we had to have had kids by now, but how terrible of a mother do you have to be to not remember your kids. I was well aware that under the circumstances of head trauma, you probably weren't held accountable for forgetting someone due to it being a medical situation, but knowing this didn't make me feel any better about forgetting them.

"How many are there?" I asked in a whisper, almost hoping that Paige wouldn't hear me, but we were so close together, it was nearly impossible for her not to.

She leaned her lips down close to my ear before whispering a response, "Three girls." I smiled at the thought of Paige and me raising three girls together. We had always wanted a group of girls, scared that if we ended up with a boy we wouldn't know exactly what to do with him. "How old?"

"Parker turns 17 in a couple of months, I had gotten pregnant a couple days after the wedding. Kacey is 15, her and Parker are almost exactly a year a part. We decided that we wanted them to be close in age so you started fertility treatments right after Parker was born. With me it took a couple of tries before it actually took which is why we started trying so close to Parkers birth, but it ended up taking on the first try, which is why they're so close in age. And then Taylor is only 9. With the never ending experience we went through with a one and two year old running around, we waited a good while before we had another."

It was a lot to take in but at the same time I couldn't wipe the huge smile off my face. I had three kid with the love of my life and from the smile I could hear in Paige's voice as she spoke of the kids, it was obvious that it had been a crazy but fun ride raising them. I felt a strange guilt wash over me as I tried to imagine what they were like and how they looked, quickly realizing that I didn't know all of the simple things a mother should about the people she raised. I wasn't sure how everyone, including myself, was going to react to this situation, but I wanted to see them. Hoping that maybe once I saw them, as a mother, everything would just come back to me.

"Are they here?" I asked warily. "Are you kidding me, I could barely get any of them to leave once I let them in this place. They really love you Em." I heard her sigh as tears began to flow down my cheeks. "I know this is hard babe and I don't know what to expect either from them, but just know that we all love you no matter what and we are going to do everything we can to get through this as smooth as possible, okay?"

I nodded before turning in her arms to capture her lips. It was reassuring to know that we had been married for so long and we were clearly still very much there for each other and in love. I poured everything I had into the kiss as I deepened it, running my hands to the back of her neck and slightly tugging at her hair. She moaned slightly before we pulled away from each other slowly, resting our foreheads together. "I'm really glad you're okay Em. I missed you."

"Me to Paige." I leaned in to kiss her once more before pulling away gently. "So can I meet them?"

Paige grinned down at me before moving off the bed, "Of course."


	5. Chapter 5

**[Paige's** POV]

I stopped outside of Emily's room, leaning my head against the door. What was I going to do with the girls? I knew Parker wasn't going to take Emily forgetting her well at all. Of course she would do her best to act like it wasn't a big deal and then lash out later on when it all became too much for her. And Kacey would ball from start to finish if I took her into that room, which would probably freak Em out too. Taylor would most likely do the best with the situation due to not exactly being able to understand the seriousness of Emily's state, but she was so young still and I didn't want to put her in the room first just in case it was too much for Emily to take in. I sighed heavily deciding that I would have to settle on hoping for the best from Parker.

I slowly pulled myself away from the door and down the empty hallways back to the waiting room. I stopped at the edge of the opening of the room and watched the girls for a second. Kacey was curled up to Parker as they laughed at something on her phone, while Taylor was demanding all of Pam's attention as her mouthed moved at warp speed. I smiled at the sight of all of them in front of me and regretfully thought to myself how this was probably the calm before the storm that was about to come barging through our family. Kacey's eyes darted up at me when she noticed my presence and tugged lightly on Parker's arm before gesturing in my direction. Parker pocketed her phone quickly and stood up waiting for me to approach her.

"Hey mom, is it our turn yet? I can't wait to see Mama and tell her about yesterday's meet. She's going to freak out when I tell her that I missed her record by under a second." Parker smirked proudly at herself as Kacey scoffed at her older sister.

"Key word 'missed' her record, which means you didn't beat it. And plus it's only Mama's high school record, you've never even been close to touching her college or professional records, so take it down a notch would yah."

Parker rolled her eyes although she knew her sister was only teasing her, "Yeah whatever Kace, you're just mad because I'm the star of this family." She smiled down at Kacey as the sisterly banter continued.

"I hate to break this to you but I'm a year younger and by next year I'll be crushing you in the pool. No. Problem." She stood up sizing up her sister before Parker responded with a slight shove to her shoulder, forcing her back into her chair. "Oh sit down. And keep telling yourself that."

Growing up with the competiveness of both Emily and I, friendly banter was very common in the family. We all liked to be the best and none of us enjoyed loosing at anything. And as much as I loved to watch them having fun with each other, I needed to let them know what was going on, but again decided to just let Parker in on all of the details for now.

"Alright guys, you can see her but the doctor says it's best to only take one in at a time so your mother doesn't get overwhelmed. So Parker come on." I turned around walking out of the room and back into the hallway, Parker on my heels like a shadow. I led her to the door before stopping and grabbing her by the shoulders to stop her from barging in through the doors.

"What? Is this not her room?" I could see the confusion in her eyes and was suddenly nervous about explaining what was going on. "Look Parker, there's something I have to tell you before you go in. Please don't freak out or anything it's hopefully just temporary."

I saw her face scrunch up into an even more confused look, "What's only temporary? Is there something wrong with her? I thought you said she was fine." I ran my hand through my hair while averting my eyes from her face. "Mom, you're freaking me out. Is she okay?"

"She's fine Parker. It's just that…" I looked down at our daughter not sure how to tell her that Emily wasn't going to know who she was, but would rather have to be told. "She has some memory issues as of right now." I watched her face drop as she began to put the pieces together herself.

"But the doctor said she was asking for you." I nodded slightly, finally bringing my eyes to meet hers. "But she doesn't remember me does she? Any of us...That's why we have to go in one at a time, isn't it?"

At this point Parker looked stunned more than anything and I dint know what to say so I simply nodded and pulled her into my arms. "She wants to see you guys though and I just thought it would be best to see how she reacted to you first. You know how Kacey is and I don't want Mama to freak out in front of Taylor if it's too much. I don't mean to put so much pressure on you, I just don't know how to handle this either Parker, but I'm doing my best."

Parker simply nodded in understanding, "Okay let's do this then." I looked at her kind of surprised that she seemed to be completely fine with this. She turned around to grab the door handle but I quickly grabbed her wrist stopping her.

"Are you sure you're aright, I mean this is kind of a lot no?" She sighed heavily before shuffling around on her feet and when she began to wring her wrist with her other hand it gave her away that she was freaking out on the inside.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Her question was serious but I could help but laugh. Her eyes quickly left the floor and her face filled with a little bit of anger, "It's not funny mom! Mama's about to meet me for the first time. What if I say something wrong and she freaks out? I mean am I supposed to call her Mama or Emily? Oh my god I can't go in there! This is crazy, what if-"

I slapped my hand over her mouth gently to stop her rant as her eyes lifted slowly to mine, "Honey, it's going to be fine. It's still Mama okay. She's going to love you and you can say and call her anything that makes you feel comfortable alright?"

She nodded again before hugging me one last time and mumbling an, "I love you mom." Against my chest. "I love you too baby. You ready?" She pulled away and gave me a soft smile before nodding.

 **[Emily's POV]**

Paige had been gone for a while now and I couldn't imagine what she could possibly be doing. But then I began to imagine how hard it must be to tell your three children that there mother doesn't remember them. I felt bad that I had put Paige and the rest of my family into this position. I was pulled out of my thoughts when the door opened slightly and Paige poked her head through.

"Hey Em, sorry it took me so long. Are you ready?" Okay so this was it. I suddenly wished that it had taken Paige even longer than it had to go find our kids. It wasn't every day that you met multiple of your children for the first time. Well at least for the first time that you could remember. "I didn't want to overwhelm you so I figured you could meet one at a time."

I nodded, thankful that she had only brought one of them. "Y-yeah that helps…" I took another deep breath as if it was going ot help me "I'm ready." Paige smiled at me before she quietly turned her head back to the hallway and spoke softly to I'm assuming one of our three kids, "You okay Park?"

Parker. The 16 year old. She grabbed the oldest of our kids and I was thankful for that, hoping that she would take the situation the best, although I wasn't sure because I couldn't remember what any of the girls personalities were like. This only made me more nervous as Paige stepped completely in the room holding the door open for the young girl to follow behind her. She entered the room slowly and her eyes were plastered to the white floor tiles. I couldn't see her face very well yet because she was wearing a worn out baseball cap and with her looking down the bill of the hat covered her face almost completely.

She had straight brown hair like Paige that fell loosely just below her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of worn out jeans and a plain white V-neck t-shirt. She had a lean body and you could tell that she was an athlete from the toned arms she has. I began to wonder if she was a tomboy like Paige was for the most part. I couldn't even see her face yet but I felt a weird pride within me, knowing that I had a part in raising the girl in front of me. Paige moved over to whisper something into the girl's ear that caused Parker to look up at Paige with a soft smile, before she shifted her gaze to me, still holding her smile.

She removed her baseball cap and handed it to Paige as I got my first good look at her. She was beautiful. Her features matched Paige's very closely and it took me back to high school when me and Paige first started dating. Parker's gaze held mine as she took a nervous breath.

"Hey, Ma…Emi…Ma…uhhmm. Hey you." Paige burst out into laughter at the young girls struggle, which startled me a little but was cut short when Parker threw daggers in her direction before whispering harshly at Paige something that I don't think I was supposed to hear, "Shut up mom. I don't know what to say to her."

Paige reached over and slung an arm over Parkers shoulder trying to act as normal as possible with our eldest daughter, the young girl rolled her eyes. "Well so much for the good first impression huh Park."

"You better watch it mom or I'm going to go get Kacey and if I'm doing this bad, I can only imagine how bad it would go with her." The girl had a smirk plastered on her face as Paige's smile dropped and her eyes widened a bit. "Okay okay. I'll stop teasing if you promise to keep Kacey a safe distance from this room."

I couldn't help but smile at the casual banter taking place by the door. It was almost as if they had forgotten they were in a room with me. I wasn't sure what to say either, it was an awkward situation so I decided to try to draw the attention away from me and onto another topic. I bravely interjected the banter, speaking up for the first time, "What's wrong with Kacey?"

Parker's head whipped around to my direction as a smile spread across her face, "What?"

"Why don't you want Kacey to come to the room? Is there something wrong with her?" I wasn't sure what to expect but I was just happy that the girl could look at me and seemed to be getting more comfortable with the situation.

"Well I mean there are a ton of things wrong with Kace, I could literally fill a book. But she's just super emotional, especially when it comes to things like this." She moved her arms around gesturing to my current states as she shuffled a little closer to my bed.

I nodded my head as if I understood, "So we have a daughter who's in touch with her emotions." Parker and Paige exchanged glances before letting out soft chuckles.

"You always say that when we tease Kacey about her emotional stability. I swear that girl witnessed a proposal and cried happy tears about it for weeks, that's not normal Em." I couldn't help but laugh at that. Neither me or Paige were overly emotional and I couldn't help but wonder where our daughter got it from.

I turned my attention to Parker who was continuously scooting closer and closer to me, now gripping the foot of the bed with her hands. "And how about you? How have your emotions been?"

I wasn't sure if I should have brought up basically how she was handling everything but I wanted to make sure she was okay. She hesitated before answering shyly, "I've been alright…I missed you though, it was weird having you gone for so long." Her gaze had fallen to her hands. She was now wringing her wrists gently and I could easily tell she wasn't one to discuss her feelings.

I don't know what came over me but I moved over and reached out to place my hand over hers, stopping the girl from wringing her wrists. Parker instantly lifted her head and I could see the tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Parker." I didn't know what else to say. I knew it probably wasn't enough but it's all I could come up with at the moment. It must have been better than nothing though as the girl quickly made her way around the bed and threw herself into my arms as she broke down into my chest.

I looked up at Paige for help, not knowing exactly how to handle this. She mouthed 'go with it' before sitting in the chair next to us. So that's what I did. From the angle I was at she looked enough like Paige for me to pretend it was her. It made it easier for me to comfort her. I wrapped my arm tightly around her and stroked her brown hair while she cried into my chest. Her body was shaking violently and there was no sign of it slowing down. Before I knew it tears were streaming down my face as I realized that the stranger breaking down in my arms was my young daughter who was scared because I didn't know who she was. I began to whisper apologies into her ear as I kissed her temple.

After a couple of minutes her body stilled and she started to pull away from me. I unwillingly brought my arms back to my sides as I stared at her. I reached out to caress her cheek as my thumb ran smoothly across her face, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I know that this must be had for you Parker. It's hard for me too honey. But I'm going to do the best I can, alright. It's going to be hard, but we seem like a pretty solid family. We can make it through this and I know that you're scared but I love you Parker. I can feel it inside me. As soon as you walked through the door I felt it. I promise you, my head may not know who you are, but my heart does."

Parker stared back into my eyes before I saw the corners of her lips curl up into a genuine smile. She looked over at Paige before she stated confidently, "You were right. She's still her."

Paige sat back in her chair before spitting out a cocky response. "Well aren't I always." She shrugged her shoulders as a smirk made its way to her face.

I rolled my eyes at my wife, "And you're definitely still you." I motioned my glance to Parker before asking in a teasing voice, "None of you take after her right?" She giggled before nodding her head, "Unfortunately current you is stuck in a house full of McCullers."

I laughed imagining how fun it must be, "Good." I simply stated before pulling the girl in for another hug.

"I love you too Mama." It came out in a whisper but with nothing but the truth behind it. I felt my chest tighten and water instantly filling my eyes. Although these words had probably been shared between her and I millions of times, it was the first one that I could momentarily remember. It was the one that meant the most to me and I couldn't wait to meet my other two daughters. If this is how it felt to have your own family, I must have a pretty good life.

We were interrupted by Paige, "So what'd you say, should we bring the train wreck in here to meet her?"

Parker stood up and began to making her way towards the door, "Don't worry mom, I'll tell her. I'll be right back alright." She looked over at me smiling proudly, "Wait until you see her. She looks exactly like you, it's actually kind of freaky."

Parker exited the room swiftly leaving me and Paige alone. "See that wasn't so bad right?"

I shook my head feeling much better about meeting everyone else. "She's gorgeous Paige. I mean I don't even know what to say, I thought she was going to come in here and I was going to freak out, but I felt so comfortable. I don't even know how it's possible because she's practically a stranger in my head right now, but when I look at her I feel like my chest is going to explode with love."

Paige let out a small chuckle as she grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together. "That's what it's like when they're born, you know. They're a complete stranger but you can't help but feel so much love for them, it's weird but the best feeling ever at the same time. I guess that's just how it works with your kids, no matter what are you meet them at." I smiled up at her before leaning in and pressing our lips together in a quick kiss.

"I don't think I've ever loved you more than I do right now Paige." Her smile instantly widened as she leaned in to kiss me again. She deepened the kiss and we continued n until our breathing became heavy, forcing us to slightly pull away from each other.

"You're going to have to prove it to me once I get you home." Her lips lightly brushed my ear as my eyes slowly shut. She returned her lips to mine once more before we heard a light knock on the door. We pulled away and looked over to the entrance as Parker poked her head in just as Paige had when it was Parker coming in earlier.

"Ready?" She asked trying to fight a smile. I simply nodded, excited to meet another one of my kids.

The door opened and I got nervous when no one came in. Parker reached out and grabbed a tan hand before pulling who I assumed was Kacey through the open door and into the room. They were right she did look at lot like me. I couldn't help but smile at the unmistakable resemblance between us.

She was wearing a pair of white denim shorts that exposed her long tan legs and an oversized sweatshirt that I recognized as one of mine from college. She had long raven hair just like mine and her toned legs led me to believe that she was an athlete just like I had assumed Parker was. The girl was shaking and tears were streaming down her face at a fast pace. Parker whispered something to her before encouraging the girl to make her way over to me.

She moved slowly to my side and instantly climbed up into the bed next to me. I was surprised by the action but was happy that she seemed to be so comfortable with me. But then again why wouldn't she be, I'm her mother, it was me who couldn't remember, not her. "Well you must be Kacey." I said softly, not knowing where to start.

She lifted her head up off of my shoulder to look up at me and I could see it in her eyes that she was going to break down any moment as Paige and Parker predicted. "So you really don't know who I am?"

I instantly wanted to cry seeing how broken her eyes looked in this moment. "Not in my head, no. I can't remember much at all. I'm sorry. But like I told Parker, I feel like I know you in my heart. I don't know what it is, my body just knows that you guys are my kids and that I love you."

At that I got my first look at emotionally unstable Kacey that I had been warned of as her wails filled the room. I was glad that I had gotten a little practice in this with Parker a little while earlier, even though Parker's break down wasn't anywhere near as bad as Kacey's currently was. I rocked her in my arms for what seemed like hours before her crying came to a stop and I heard her mumble something. "What was that?"

"I love you Mama. Even if you don't know who I am. I'm just glad you're okay." I smiled down at her before kissing her forehead, "Me too Kacey. It'll all be okay, I promise."

Of course that wasn't a promise I could guarantee but I just felt like it was something a mother would say to their terrified child. I wiped her tears like I had done with Parker before trying to lighten the mood. "Nice sweatshirt." She looked down and laughed lightly before she looked at her sister in the corner sitting with Paige, "So she remembers that I stole her sweatshirt but not me," She cocked her eyebrows up as she looked back at me, "Nice Mama. Reeeaal nice."

The room filled with laughter and it was the best feeling ever. I loved the way our family teased each other constantly. It made the situation a lot easier to deal with. Parker was the next to speak up, "Alright so what do you say Mama ready for the last and easiest one of all?"

I nodded at my oldest daughter "Can't wait, bring her in." It was true I couldn't wait to have my whole family together in the room. So far it was amazing and I couldn't wait to meet the last of them.

Parker ran out of the room and returned rather quickly, this time not bothering to poke her head into the door to ask if I was ready like she had previously as a little girl sprinted past her and before I even knew what was going on I had little arms wrapped around my neck. I couldn't help but smile as I wrapped her in my arms as well, pulling back to get a better look at her. She too had brown hair and light skin. She had a huge smile plastered across her face and it was nothing short of contagious. "Hi Mama, I'm Taylor!" I smiled widely at her enthusiasm. She was much less hesitant than the other girls, probably because she was younger and didn't understand the complexity of what was going on around her.

"Well hello cutie. How are you doing?" She plopped down in front of me, sitting with her legs tucked under her.

"Good! Parky said you couldn't remember any of us which makes me kind of sad, but she said that even though you couldn't remember us you still acted like yourself and that I shouldn't be scared. She said I had to be brave for you, which I am. You know I really missed you while you were here. It was weird everyone was so moody without you and mommy made us eat Chinese food every night. I like your food better than-"

My attention was pulled away from the little girl in front of me when Kacey interrupted her, "Oh my god Taylor, take a freaking breath." I laughed before turning back to Taylor running my hand to straighten out her hair, "It's aright Taylor, you can tell me everything when I get home okay?"

The little girl smiled at me before crawling into my lap sticking her tongue out at her sister. So this was my family. I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear as I looked around at everyone. Kacey was sitting on Parkers lap due to the lack of chairs while Paige sat next to them in the only other chair and Taylor snuggled her back into my body as I wrapped my arms loosely around her. I couldn't remember much of anything that occurred during the last 17 years but I did know one thing for sure. I loved my little family.


	6. Chapter 6

**[Emily's POV]**

Today was finally the day I was going to be released. While I was still pretty banged up, there was nothing seriously wrong with me, besides my memory loss that unfortunately hadn't improved within the last few days. It was a weird feeling to feel completely fine, like not a single thing was wrong in the world, yet you were somehow missing nearly half of your life in your head. It was like being thrown into the future with no warning at all and it was kind of terrifying. Everything seemed to be going well so far but who knows how long that'll last if I can't get my memory back.

I was pulled out of my thoughts suddenly when Paige strolled into my room, "Alright you're a free woman. The papers are signed and the doctor said we could get going whenever you're ready." I nodded and stood up from the edge of the bed that I had been sitting on waiting for Paige to return. She had brought me a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt to change into when she had first arrived and left me to get dressed as she went to make sure I was cleared to leave.

She led me out of the familiar hospital and towards a white SUV. "Glad to see we haven't turned into the kind of people who settle for a minivan." Paige smiled at me as she opened the passenger door, waiting for me to climb into the vehicle.

"Please, the kids would never allow us to be those people. Plus I'm not completely sure, but I think them and their friends consider us to be the cool set of parents and a minivan would kill our cool parent rep." I hadn't even thought about all of the girls having friends. I mean obviously they would have friends but I certainly don't remember any of them.

This kind of sent me into a panic. It was weird to imagine a bunch of people who you had no idea even existed in the world knowing who you are. And as Paige exited the hospital parking lot and made her way onto the main roads, I realized I didn't even know where I lived. I knew nothing about my life and it sent my head spinning. I could feel my breathing pick up as my anxiety peaked. For the last week that I had been conscious I had been in the safety of my hospital room. I didn't have to deal with how much I didn't really remember. After I had met our children, it was easy because I knew everyone who entered and exited the room.

We had all fallen into a little routine at the hospital, but what was are home routine like? The girls were in school and I'm sure me and Paige had jobs. Oh my god, what do I even do for a living? This thought sent me over the edge and I practically jumped out of my seat when I felt someone reach out and grab my hand. I was so lost in thought that I hadn't even realized that the car was now at a standstill and Paige was trying to get my attention.

"Emily, relax. What's wrong babe, are you okay?" Paige looked like a deer in the headlights as she stared at me. I was gasping for air as I ran my hands over my face in order to try to regain my composure, as I took deep breaths.

"I'm just a little scared, that's all. I mean I know we've all been trying to stay calm about this, but Paige I have no idea who I am anymore or what I do. What I'm supposed to do when I get to this house." My voice continued to rise as I rambled on, "Assuming we even live in a house. Last thing I remember we were living in a one bedroom apartment, in California, but that seems a little unpractical with the life I apparently have now!" I sighed heavily as I leaned my head down against the dashboard, breaking my gaze away from Paige's slightly shocked face. I brought my voice back down trying to bring my tone to a gentler one, "I-it's just…It's a lot and I don't know what to do. I hadn't realized how big of a deal this was until about two minutes ago and I don't know if I'm ready for this. I don't think I can go home. Wherever that is."

 **[Paige's POV]**

I watched on as Emily had a complete breakdown in the passenger seat of the car. What are you supposed to do when that happens? What are you supposed to do when the woman you love doesn't remember who she is supposed to be at this time in her life?

Of course it's a lot to take in, we all were struggling with this, but I hadn't realized how much it was taking out of her, which only made me feel worse about ignoring the fact that she was being thrown into this life that she wasn't used to. We were all trying to pretend that everything was the same, but we weren't even sure that Emily was going to ever get her memory back. It was just a hope that we all had, but that hope was slowly getting shot down as she yelled about being lost and it was clear that this wasn't going to be as easy as we had all assumed it would be.

I reached across the console that separated us and rubbed her back, waiting for her to calm down a little bit before I spoke. "It's okay Em, but I can't read your mind. You have to tell me when things are becoming too much so I know."

It was easy to forget that Emily had forgotten portions of her life because she was the only one that couldn't recall certain things. The rest of us remembered everything that she couldn't and we all had just continued to live the way we have been for years. But none of this was the norm for Emily. The norm was 17 years ago when we were newlyweds sitting in our way to small of an apartment, without any worries in the world. But that definitely wasn't our life now. Everything had changed, with the exception of me and Emily ourselves.

"Well it's too much Paige." I nodded, not necessarily sure what to say to make her feel better. In this relationship it was more normal for me to break down and freak out about things. It wasn't that Emily never had her moments, but it just wasn't as common for her.

"I guess I could take you to your parent's house and you can stay there until you're ready. Would that be a little easier for you?" I wanted her more than anything to say that she had overreacted and that she wanted to come home, but I knew it was a long shot. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, which somehow felt like days, before she slowly nodded her head.

"Maybe that'd be best. Just to give me some time to figure a couple of things out." I turned the key in the ignition and turned the car around, heading in the direction of her parents' home.

I continuously snuck glances at her as we drove and I could see the tears slowly stream down her face as she stared out the window. I wanted to make her feel better but I didn't know how to do that at this point and I definitely didn't want to freak her out again by saying something wrong. Therefore, the entire ride there was completely silent.

Even as I pulled up in front of the house and turned the car off we both just sat there, not really sure what the next move should be. "So I guess I'll run home and pack up a couple of things for you so you have some of your things while you're staying here. I didn't let her know you were coming but she shouldn't mind."

When she didn't respond right away I forced myself to look at her. She must have felt my gaze focused on her because it wasn't long before she turned to face me. "Thanks for being okay with this. I just…" Her eyes fell back into her lap as she began to play with her fingers.

"It's fine Emily. Like I said, whatever you need to feel comfortable okay?" I tried to sound as convincing as possible, but was betrayed by a slight crack in my voice as I spoke to her. Of course she noticed as she began to spit apologies out at me.

"I'm really sorry Paige, I'm trying." She opened the passenger door and stepped out of the car, turning back to me while holding the door open, "I love you." It came out timidly and I could tell that she was nervous about me being mad at her for wanting to stay here.

"I love you too. I'll be back later with some of your stuff alright." She nodded once more at me before closing the door and walking up the path to her parent's front door. I watched her as she disappeared into the house.

It's not that I was mad at her for not being ready or for being scared, but it was the worst feeling to have your wife not feel comfortable with you and the rest of your family at home. That she had to stay at her parent's house. I knew it was selfish for me to be disappointed and maybe I was even a little mad, but I couldn't help it. She didn't have to go home and tell three kids that their mom didn't want to come home to them. I was probably going to have to watch at least two of them cry and it just wasn't fair.

I sat outside of the house for a good 15 minutes before I somehow got enough courage to drive off into the direction of our house, where our kids were waiting excitedly for the return of their mom. They weren't used to her being so absent from their lives. Emily had always been around and even when she wasn't around the house she would call and make sure they were okay. The kids were already struggling and they were happy that she was finally going to be at home where they could see her every day and I was dreading taking that away from them.

As I got closer to the house I found myself driving slower and slower, but eventually I found myself parked in the driveway. I got out of the car and made my way to the front door, unlocking it and pushing it open just enough to squeeze through. I dropped my keys on the table next to the door and headed towards the living room where I heard the girls shuffling around. As I turned the corner I saw them all sitting on the couch with a small banner hanging on the wall that simply stated 'Welcome Home Mama' in what was clearly Taylor's sloppy handwriting.

My face dropped, knowing that this was going to go downhill extremely fast. Parker must have sensed something was wrong, "What?" she asked questioningly before looking back at the banner, "Is it too much? You know how much Mama likes all that sentimental crap, so we thought it would be a good idea."

I nodded knowing that the Emily who knew she had kids would have loved to be welcomed home like this. She couldn't get enough of the homemade cards and little art projects that the kids would bring home to her throughout their lives. I hadn't even thought about them doing something like this and felt terrible about not returning with Emily like they had been told.

"No I'm sure she would've loved it." I saw three faces furrow in confusion, before Kacey spoke up, "What do you mean 'she would've loved it'. Where is she, I thought they were going to release her today."

"They did." I made my way over to them and sat myself on the coffee table in front of the couch, facing all of the girls. "Mama's not going to come home for a couple more days. She was feeling a little bit overwhelmed with everything and is going to be staying at grandma and grandpa's until she feels more…comfortable with everything." I didn't want them to feel like Emily didn't want to come home because of them but I didn't want to lie about where she was and why she was there either.

"So she doesn't want to be here?" Taylor asked softly.

"It's not that she doesn't want to, she just thought it would be best if she stayed somewhere she remembered first. It's only for a few days guys, until she's ready. We can't force her into anything. I know you all were excited to have her here but we have to let her do things at her own pace." I knew as I looked around at everyone's faces that they were doing their best to understand the situation, but like me they were struggling to accept that Emily wasn't ready to be around them all of the time.

I could tell by the look on her face that Kacey was trying her best not to cry and it was clear the Parker was pissed. Taylor was obviously sad that Emily wasn't going to be at home, but didn't seem to be as upset as the older girls.

"Hey Tay, why don't you go up to your room and hang out for a while so I can talk to your sisters for a sec." Taylor nodded and took off up the stairs. She had always been the easiest of the girls to deal with. She always was more than happy to do whatever Emily and I had asked, while the other two girls were a little more unpredictable when it came to their actions.

Kacey had her head buried in Parkers chest, not being able to hold the tears in any longer. "Kacey come on, it has nothing to do with you guys. She just panicked a little on our way over here once she realized how much she was really missing in her head." I was trying to make them feel better, but by the anger rising in Parkers eyes, I knew that nothing I said was going to make this easy.

"Don't tell me it's not about us! She knows who you are, isn't that enough for her to feel like it's okay to be here?!" Parker definitely wasn't having any of this, which didn't surprise me. Parker and Emily were the closest in the family. Parker being the first born had always received a ton of attention from Emily. They had always been inseparable from the day Parker was born and as the years went on there were no signs of that changing.

"Parker what did you want me to do? She wanted to stay with her parents, I can't force her to come here. I want her here too but we have to let her figure things out on her own." Parker gently forced Kacey upright, so that she could get up off the couch.

"Didn't the doctor say that she should be here? She has to be here to remember, no?!" Parker was now pacing around the room as she threw her arms around as she spoke, trying to make sense of everything.

I stood up and made my way towards her trying to get her to stop. "Parker settle down, it's just temporary. She's going to come back and then we'll do what we can to help her." I reached out for her but she pulled away quickly and angrily made her way up the stairs.

I ran my hand over my face and sighed heavily having no idea what to do to help anyone at this point. I turned around and looked at Kacey who was now silently sitting on the couch. "You aright Kace?"

She looked over at me before replying with a shaky, "Yeah."

"Alright well I told mama that I'd drop off some of her things so she had at least some of her stuff while she was staying with grandma and grandpa, so I'm going to do that real quick so I can go and get back home." I waited for her to nod and then headed upstairs to our bedroom.

 **[Emily's POV]**

My mother was the only one home right now, but she was fine with me staying here until I was ready to go back home, although she wasn't sure that it was the best idea. I told her that I just needed a little time to myself and almost instantly made my way upstairs to the guest bedroom. Paige had dropped me off at around 3 p.m. and I stayed in the guestroom until about 6 p.m. I finally figured I'd better go downstairs and talk to my mom for a little while before my dad got home.

As I made my way downstairs I stopped to look at some of the pictures hanging on the wall. There was one of me from high school and it had been hanging there since the day I had brought it home from school. Next to it was one that I had never seen before. It was a picture of Parker and Kacey, which looked like it had been taken fairly recently. They were both in swimsuits and had medals around their necks. Parker was holding Kacey bridal style and Kacey had her head thrown back and appeared to be laughing hysterically, while Parker was looking straight at the camera lens with an equally as large smile plastered across her face.

"That was when they won state last year." I turned around quickly, slightly startled by the voice that belonged to my mother. I simply nodded my head, "So they're both swimmers huh?"

My mother let out a slight chuckle as if it was the dumbest question to ask. "Really Emily, if you tell me that you're really surprised at that then I'm going to send you back to the hospital for further examination on that head of yours."

"They must be good coming from me and Paige." I looked back at the picture one last time before making my way to the couch where my mother was seated.

"Very good. You two had them both swimming before they could even walk." I smiled as the image of me and Paige swimming around in a pool with a one and two year old Kacey and Parker popped into my head. "Feeling a little better now?"

I sighed quietly not really wanting to explain the little breakdown I had earlier to my mom, "Yeah just wanted to make sure I was ready before I went back to our house. With the girls there and everything I just didn't think I was ready for that." She nodded in understanding before we were interrupted by a knock at the front door.

Knowing that it would be Paige with my stuff I got up and made my way to the front door. I opened it to find a nervous looking Paige. "Hey, come in." I stood back and held the door open for her, waiting for her to step through the door, which she did but I could sense her hesitation.

"Hey Pam." I watched as Paige leaned down to hug my mom and then turned her attention back to me, "Sorry it took me so long, I had to handle…I just got caught up with some stuff." I knew something must have happened because Paige couldn't even look in my direction. Her eyes were glued to her shoes as she nervously shuffled around on her feet.

"I'll let you guys have a moment," my mom said as she got up off the couch, "if you need me I'll be in the kitchen." I gave her a small smile and nodded as she made her way out of the room.

"Is everything okay?" I asked warily. Paige looked like she had been through hell and back. I could tell she was having an internal battle with herself on whether she should tell me the truth or not about what must have happened after she had dropped me off. "It's okay babe, you can tell me."

She plopped down on the couch with a sigh before laying her head in her hands and rubbing her face. "It's just been a long day that's all, don't worry about it." I bit my lip, not wanting to pry. I sat down next to her and put my hand on the small of her back. She lifted her head slightly so that she could look at me, "What about you? Feeling any better?"

"A little less freaked out, but I don't know, it's still kind of a lot for me. I'm sorry that I'm making this so hard, I'm guessing the girls didn't take you showing up alone well." It was the only thing that I could think of that could've happened in the short amount of time that Paige was gone.

I knew I was right when she leaned back against the couch and let out a loud groan, "Kacey and Taylor understood, I mean they were a little disappointed that you weren't going to be home tonight, but they're fine."

"So Parker took it bad then?" I asked with a little bit of guilt for upsetting any of the girls at all.

"I know you don't know her but you guys are really close, so she's having a little bit of trouble being away from you. Like you, she just needs some time to figure things out." She let out a small laugh, "I guess you guys are always on the same page, even when you're not. She'll come around, just like you will Em. Don't feel bad it's fine, I'll handle her when I get home. She's not big on the feelings thing. She enjoys to bottle it up and then freak out, this is nothing new."

I couldn't help but feel bad when Paige told me that I was so close to Parker. Hearing how upset everyone was made me want to pick up the bag Paige had brought and just go home with her despite my fears. Try to make everything better, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. "So then she's okay?"

I leaned my head on Paige's shoulder as I brought my knees into my chest and cuddled closer to her. She threw her arm over my shoulder and kissed the top of my head, "She'll be fine. We all will."

I nodded and then wrapped my arms around her waist pulling her closer to me. We sat there for a good hour, in mostly silence, before Paige reminded me that she had to get back to a house full of our children. I unwillingly let her stand up and walked her to the front door. She stopped on the porch and pulled me in for a quick kiss, "I'll come by tomorrow to see how you are. Text me or call me if you need anything. Doesn't matter what time, okay?"

I nodded and thanked her before I watched her climb into her car and drive off with a small wave. I walked back into the house, locking the door behind me, and let my mom know that I was just going to call it a night and hang out in my room. I headed back up the stairs but stopped before I reached the top of the stairs examining the photo of Kacey and Parker on the wall one more time. I ran my fingers over the glass. They looked so happy, like nothing else mattered but each other and those around them. A small smile crept onto my face, the picture reminded me of Paige and I when we were swimming in high school, both girls resembled us and I couldn't help the tears that came. I couldn't imagine hurting any of them. Paige, Kacey, Parker, even Taylor who seemed to be doing the best with everything at the moment. But that's exactly what I was doing. I don't think it mattered to them that the pain I was causing was unintentional because being hurt by someone you loved, no matter what form, still hurt.

 **[Paige's POV]**

I entered the house to find Kacey asleep on the couch in the living room and Parker sitting on the bottom steps of the stairs slipping on her shoes. "Where's Taylor?"

Parker didn't even bother to look up at me when she responded, "She's asleep in her room." She finished tying her shoes and stood up. She was now in a pair of shorts and a small t-shirt. She pulled a hair tie off of her wrist and put her hair in a ponytail as she made her way past me and to the front door.

I followed her to the door and reached over her shoulder pushing the door back closed before she could slip out, "And where might you be going?" She turned around with an annoyed look on her face. "I'm going to go for a run, if that's alright." She turned back around and reached for the door knob again but my hand was still resting on the door holding it shut.

"Parker you ran this morning and it's after 8 o'clock, you don't need to go out again. And if I'm remembering correctly you also have a math test tomorrow that I doubt you're ready for considering the last test you brought home." I knew she needed to blow off some steam but it was just going to have to wait until tomorrow. "You can train as much as you'd like to Parker, but it doesn't matter if you can't keep your grades up, they won't let you swim if you can't keep your average above a C.

"Glad one parent can remember something about me. Too bad that it's how stupid I am." She forced the door open after my force against the door loosened from the surprise response that she had thrown back at me. I stood there with my mouth slightly hung open in shock when she turned back around as she stood on the porch, "I feel so loved." She spat sarcastically.

Before I could respond she had already taken off down the front yard in a steady jog, making her way down the street. I hadn't meant to make things worse with her. I shook my head pissed at myself for just not letting her go for the stupid run in the first place. I knew she had a lot on her mind and that this was hard, but I'm still her parent. The world doesn't stop just because something bad happens.

I closed the door behind me thinking about calling her but as I walked back inside I saw her phone sitting on the kitchen table. I sighed and figured that I would just have to wait until she got home to smooth things over.

 **[Parker's POV]**

I barely reached the end of our block before I stopped and thought about turning back. I felt like an asshole for leaving mom like that. I knew we were all having a hard time right now, it wasn't just me and I was being selfish. I knew she wasn't trying to say anything bad about me and I shouldn't have spoken to her the way that I did, especially after the long day we had. Well really the last two weeks have been extremely long for this family. Although I really wanted to go back I needed some air. I enjoyed running when I was upset, it was something that had always made me feel better. It gave me time to be alone, to sort out the things going on in my head, which at the moment there was a lot.

I took a deep breath before deciding to continue my run and just apologize to mom when I got back home later, knowing that she would wait up for me. I wasn't really sure where I was going I just wanted to be out of the house, so I decided to go wherever my feet took me. Eventually I ended up on the other side of town and figured I should head back before mom started freaking out about me being gone for so long. I was half way home when I began to approach a street that was all too familiar. I slowed down my pace and stopped completely when I hit the corner. I stared down the street while I caught my breath, recognizing my grandparents' house towards the end.

I must have stood there for 15 minutes telling myself to go home and stay away from her, but I couldn't bring myself to walk away. Before I knew it I was sitting on the curb across the street from their house staring at what I knew was the guest bedroom window where she'd most likely be staying. The light was off, but I could see the flicker of the TV lighting up the walls through the window. I knew I shouldn't be here, she needed space that's why she was here, but I was frozen in my spot. I watched closely as I saw a shadow cross the room and wondered if it was her or if I was officially going crazy.

I was pulled out of my mindless thoughts when headlights turned onto the road and grandpa's truck came to a stop in the driveway. I knew I was going to have a hard time explaining myself if he saw me out here, which I'm sure he had. Sure enough he exited the truck and immediately made his way across the street, taking a seat next to me.

"What are you doing out here kiddo?" He had already taken off his jacket and was in the process of throwing it around my shoulders. I was so deep in thought that I hadn't realized how cold it was out here.

"Just thinking." I wasn't lying, I really was just thinking. If I was being honest I had no idea what I was doing out here creeping on my mother's current bedroom window, I guess I just couldn't stay away.

"I'm assuming it has something to do with the fact that Emmy's staying here instead of with you." I nodded, even though he didn't need me to confirm his suspicions, it was obvious that I wanted to see her but felt like I couldn't. "Does your mom know you're here right now?"

I shook my head never taking my eyes off of the guestroom window. "We kind of aren't really getting along right now. I kind of said something stupid to her and don't really want to go home." He never replied so I assumed he nodded in understanding. After a couple minutes of silence he stood up and for the first time in about an hour I removed my eyes from the window and up to my grandpa's face.

He outstretched his hand in my direction before speaking, "How about we go inside and you can call your mom, apologize for whatever it is that you said and then when you're ready I'll give you a ride home. Sound good?" I simply nodded before grabbing his hand so he could pull me up. I leaned into his side when he wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he led me up to the house.

As we reached the front door of the house and grandpa began to open the door I felt my anxiety rise as I thought of the possibility of Mama being downstairs and not upstairs like I had assumed. I stopped abruptly forcing him to come to a stop as well. "Wait maybe I should wait out here. I mean I don't think that she wants to see me, what if she's still up? I don't want to freak her out Pop."

"Its fine Parker, she's not going to freak out on you okay. Grandma called me about an hour ago and told me she was calling it a night, so she shouldn't even be up. And even if she was, she's seen you before, she knows who you are-"

"Barely," I scoffed as I looked away. I didn't mean to cut him off or say what I did, but things just seemed to be coming out on their own tonight. My mouth had apparently thrown caution out the window and was running with a mind of its own.

"Look at me honey," I immediately looked at him with the help of his guiding hand that now softly rested under my chin, "she knows who you are. She's your mother and she loves you with all of her heart, don't ever forget that no matter what the circumstances." He pulled me into his arms as tears streamed freely for the first time today. I wasn't much of a crier, but in these last two weeks alone I had cried more than I had in probably my entire life. I nodded into his chest before he pulled away and wiped my face with his rough hands. I couldn't help but laugh at the strength behind his wiping and the scratchiness from his worn out hands. Coming from a family with two moms I had grown custom to the soft loving touch of a mother, rather than the slightly more aggressive one that would come from a dad.

"Alright good to go soldier?" he smiled down at me waiting for an answer.

"Yes sir," I responded with a small salute. It was something that we had always done ever since I was a toddler. I was always fascinated with his army gear and would mock his movements and military ways. It made me feel better as I thought back to all the times that Mama had teased him about turning her daughter into a soldier and that she would kill him if I ever came home with the news that I was headed off to the army.

Before I knew it I was sat down at the kitchen table with my grandma frantically running around the kitchen trying to get me to agree to eat something "Really grandma I just came in to say hi, I really have to call Mom before she kills me for being out so late on a school night."

"Fine, but you are at least going to let me make you some hot chocolate before you leave this house, it's freezing out there." She made it hard for me to reject the offer because she had already began the process of making it, so I gratefully accepted. "Fine but nothing more," I gave her a small smile, "Thank you grandma."

"Here you go darlin'." I grabbed the phone from my grandpa's hand saying a quick 'thank you' and quickly made my way into the living room as I dialed her number. I turned the corner sharply not paying much attention to anything but the phone in my hand and hit someone before pressing the call button, which sent me straight to the floor.

"Oh my god, are you okay!? I'm so sorry." I let out a small groan as I felt the pain in my tailbone which had broken my fall. "Here let me help you up."

I looked up for the first time panicking when I realized that I had run into my mom. "Umm no it's fine. I'm fine." I put my hands on the floor and pushed myself up, ignoring her outstretched hand. "See all good." I said trying my best to ignore any kind of eye contact. I quickly ducked away from her and made my way past her about to turn my attention back to the phone when I realized I didn't have it anymore and that it must be on the floor behind me. I unwillingly turned around to pick it up off the ground hoping that she would have continued on to the kitchen, but when I turned around I was met with her standing in front of me holding up the phone, "forget something?" She asked with a small smirk, most likely aware that I was doing everything to avoid her.

"Nope. I'll just use the one upstairs." I turned around quickly suddenly not wanting to be anywhere near her, which I didn't know why because less than an hour ago I was looking for any excuse possible just to see her. And here she was, not only right in front of me but talking to me and I was doing everything in my power to get away. I was at the edge of the stairs when I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and yank me back.

"Parker, I think we need to talk." Just say no Parker. Run out the door Parker. Do anything, but agree to sit down and talk with her right now. I turned around and met her sad, pleading eyes. Well turning around was a mistake. Here goes nothing.

"Umm, yeah. Okay, sure." Shit. Please go well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, just wanted to thank everyone for reading my story. I'm new at this and thought I'd give it a shot since I've had so much time on my hands lately. I'm glad most of you are enjoying it so far and hope you guys continue to read. I appreciate the reviews and would love to hear any suggestions that you guys have or comments about things that you may not like so I can make the story as enjoyable as possible for readers.**

 **I also know that there isn't a ton of Paige/Emily interaction yet (there's a little at the end of this chapter) but don't worry there will be a lot more soon so I hope you keep reading anyways. Again thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review, I love knowing what everyone thinks.**

 **[Emily's POV]**

Parker and I were seated on the couch, she leaned her body against the arm rest on the opposite end of mine forcing herself just about as far away from me as the couch would allow. Although I was facing her, she had her stiff body facing straight ahead as she fidgeted with her hands, looking anywhere and everywhere but back at me. It was more than obvious that she was nervous and maybe even a little scared to be sitting in the room with me. This was the first time since we had been reintroduced that we had been alone together for any amount of time and because I wasn't sure what kind of person she was at the moment I didn't necessarily know how to handle the situation.

I knew that she was my daughter and that she had taken me not returning home today bad, but other than that I had no clue who this person was. This thought sent me into a little bit of a wreck as I forced my body to sit forward, tearing my eyes away from her. I focused on my breathing trying not to have a breakdown similar to the one that I had in the car earlier in the day.

I was startled by the sudden movement of Parker shooting up out of her seat. I turned my attention to her and she was looking around the room while she rubbed the back of her neck, "Umm this was really nice and all but I should really get going. Mom's probably getting worried about me." She started to make her way around the couch and back towards the kitchen when I regained her attention.

"Parker wait." I surprised myself when I spoke. She stopped in her tracks as soon as my voice broke out into the room and she slowly turned around to face me.

I didn't know what to say to her when she turned back to me and I kicked myself for coming downstairs at all. I wanted to talk to her and make sure she was okay, but I wasn't sure how to do that. I was relieved when she decided to speak before me.

"Look, you don't have to do this. I shouldn't have come here. I mean I wasn't supposed to. I didn't even really mean to. I just…" She dropped her eyes to the floor as her hand returned to rub the back of her neck, "I've never been through anything like this before." She let out a small sigh and took a deep breath through her nose as she brought her hands up to her face. She was clearly trying not to cry. "I just miss you, but I don't even know why because you're right there, but…"

"But I'm not me." It came out as a whisper and I wasn't even sure if she had heard me, but when I looked across the room at her it was clear that she had. She shrugged as a response before I stood up and continued, "Paige told me that we were pretty close." I slowly made my way over to stand in front of her as she slumped her back against the wall and kept her eyes on the floor.

"Mmhm." I wanted to reach out and wrap her in my arms but I dint feel like I could. I was her mother, but at the same time I didn't feel like it. The way she couldn't look at me and the battle I could clearly see that she was fighting with tears that threatened to escape her eyes killed me.

I didn't want to pry for information when she was clearly upset but I wanted to know why, "Why is that?" She still had her eyes on the floor and sniffled before shrugging casually, quietly stating "I don't really want to talk about it."

I nodded figuring that it was something deeper than us just being close buddies around the house. That something had happened that brought us closer together. I decided that it was probably best to leave it alone for now.

"I'm sorry that I didn't come back with your mom. I didn't mean to hurt any of you, I just wasn't ready yet." She answered with a small nod that was hardly noticeable and if I hadn't been staring at her intently, I probably would have missed it.

Her voice was small as she mumbled back at me, "Mom already told us why you didn't come back. And it's fine. She's right, you just need some time to get used to everything. I guess it's just hard to be patient sometimes." She finally looked up at me allowing me to see her tear stained cheeks.

Before I could say anything else the phone suddenly began to ring and Parker's eyes slightly widened. "Shit!" I was slightly taken back by her open cursing, but I guess she was a teenager and I was already cussing too at that age.

She made her way to the couch where the phone had been sitting, "That's probably the search party." She said it with a chuckle and I assumed she was talking about Paige.

I watched on as Parker answered the phone finally having it sink in that she probably didn't have Paige's permission to be here and it was already after 10 p.m.

 _Hello._ Parker listened for a minute to the person on the other line.

 _I know mom. And I wasn't going to but grandpa made me come inside._ I smiled as my dad yelled from the kitchen in a teasing voice. "I didn't make you do anything." Parker couldn't fight the smile on her face as she looked back towards the kitchen, my dad appearing in the entrance of the living room.

 _See that's him right there. He says 'sorry for keeping me so late'._ I watched on as my dad approached a giggling Parker and reached for the phone, as she quickly jumped back leaning away from him so he couldn't rip the phone from her, both with big smiles on their faces. My dad easily caught up to her a moment later and grabbed the phone as he put Parker into a loose head lock.

 _I found her on the curb and SHE came inside herself. I'm sorry that I kept her out so late, she was talking to Emmy, I'll drive her home after I kick her butt for trying to blame me._ Parker continued to laugh uncontrollably as she struggled to release herself from my dad's embrace.

I couldn't help the ear to ear grin the spread across my face as my dad said a quick 'goodbye' to Paige and then wrestled his granddaughter to the floor with ease. They rolled around for a minute before he had Parker pinned to the floor, "Okay, okay. Mercy!" Parker exclaimed slightly out of breath.

My dad stood up immediately, standing over Parker as she rolled herself off her stomach and into a sitting position, "Why are you so strong, you're an old man. Aren't you supposed to have a broken back or something?" Parker smirked as she teased my dad. He faked gasped as he pointed a stern finger in her direction.

"Don't make me fight you again soldier." Parker threw her hands up in mock surrender before he helped her to her feet.

"Whoa whoa whoa, soldier?" I asked, not recalling any mention of Parker being interested in the Army.

Both my dad and daughter burst into laughter. "What? I'm serious, nobody told me she was a 'soldier'" I didn't like the idea of one of my kids being out in battle or anywhere near it for that matter. While I was extremely grateful for those who served our country, like my dad, I was constantly worried about him when he was a part of it and I couldn't imagine going through that with your child.

"Don't worry I'm not a soldier. Trust me, you would never allow that." She smiled as she looked up at my dad before he spoke in a soft whisper that I could barely hear, "Told you she was still your mama. Always so worried that one."

They giggled with each other before he ran back to the kitchen to get his keys. "So I guess I'll just see you around then." Her goodbye sounded like one you would give to someone at the end of an awkward first date.

I didn't want her to feel like I didn't want to see her or that it was her that I was struggling with, but I didn't want to guarantee that I was going to be coming home right away so I settled for a, "Sooner than later, okay?"

She nodded as my dad reentered the room holding his keys up, "Ready?"

Parker clicked her heels together and straitened her back lifting her hand up into a salute, "Yes sir." I shook my head, not really all that surprised that my dad had managed to get at least one of my kids to enjoy the army.

My father nodded once before stating, "At ease soldier." Parker smiled and threw me a small wave as my father led her out of the house, throwing his arm around her shoulder as they disappeared out the front door.

 **[Paige's POV]**

After I hung up the phone I went back and sat down on the couch as I mindlessly flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch waiting for Parker to be dropped off. I should've known she'd end up wherever Emily was, whether it was originally planned or not. I hoped it went well with Emily, when I was on the phone everybody on the other side seemed to be having a good time.

I only sat for about half an hour before I heard Parker slipping through the door. I looked back towards the entrance of the door and saw Parker enter slowly. "Hey baby, you feeling better now?"

"I'm really sorry Mom…about earlier. And for staying out so late too I guess." I could tell she was hesitant but she made her way over to sit next to me anyway.

"It's okay, I know we've all been a little on edge lately. I didn't mean to upset you or imply that you were stupid honey. You know I don't think that. I'm just worried that you've put so much focus on mama lately that you are going to start slipping up in other places that are important."

I looked over at her and gestured for her to scoot closer to me. She immediately curled up into me as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and rested my hand on her side, rubbing it soothingly. "How'd it go with mama?"

"Honestly? It was a little awkward." She rested her head on my chest as she spoke softly, "What if her memory doesn't come back mom?"

The question came out timidly, Parker probably being scared of the answer, "I don't know baby." It was an honest answer. I honestly had no idea what would happen. If things would be the same if her memory never came back. "Hopefully we'll all be okay no matter what happens."

"I hope it comes back. Everything was perfect before the accident." I nodded and kissed her head gently. "I know. Things will go back to normal soon and everything will be perfect again."

I knew I couldn't promise this but I just wanted my kid to at least think that everything was going to be okay. And even if it wasn't going to be okay, it always felt good to have someone who you trusted tell you it was going to be. "Why don't you head up and shower so you can get to bed. You still have to go to school in the morning."

"I don't think I'm going to get much sleep. If I don't pull an all-nighter, I'm definitely going to bomb that math test tomorrow." I smiled hearing the smirk in her voice, knowing very well that the mood had gotten too heavy for Parker and that she was trying to change the subject to something lighter.

"You don't stand a chance kid." She laughed lightly as she swung her hand up and hit my shoulder.

"Gee mom thanks for the confidence boost." I could feel her body shake slightly from laughter as I bent down to kiss her cheek lightly, "Go shower and then when you get out I'll help you out with it, okay?"

She scoffed as she pulled away from me so she could see my face, "No way! Last time we did math together it was a complete train wreck. You're worse than I am, and that's just sad mom because I'm simply horrific. Taylor's got a better chance of passing my test tomorrow than I do."

I laughed knowing that she wasn't even joking, Parker had unfortunately taken after me at being absolutely terrible at math. A couple weeks ago Emily was out of town and I had to help her with her math homework and I'm almost positive that I just confused her more although I was trying to help. We basically just sat in front of her textbook for a couple hours, our faces scrunched in confusion as we continuously said 'what?' at every problem we tried to do.

"Fine whatever you can just fail. That's fine." I teased knowing that she'd be back downstairs in about 20 minutes with her stuff asking for my help anyways.

She simply rolled her eyes before climbing the stairs swiftly, leaving me alone.

 **[Kacey's POV]**

I was finishing up my English paper that was due tomorrow when Parker burst through our bedroom door and went straight for her dresser. "Where have you been?"

Parker turned her attention over to me and briefly stated, "I was at grandma and grandpas," before she turned back to her dresser.

"Wait, what?! I thought you were going on a run?" She couldn't have been at grandpas where mama was staying, mom said that mama needed time away from us or something, why would Parker be allowed to go there.

"Yeah I was. And then I ended up at grandpa's house and he saw me outside so he invited me in. So I just went in for a sec before he drove me home." She had pulled some clothes from the dresser and was headed for the bathroom when I jumped out of bed, tossing my laptop back down to where I had been sitting.

"Did you see mama?" I knew that she had to have seen her and it wasn't fair. We were told to give her space and while some of us were following the rules Parker, like always, seemed to be able to do whatever she wanted to.

"Yeah for a little bit but we barely even talked. It was kind of weird actually." Parker continued into the bathroom, oblivious that I was mad that she got to see mama, and I followed closely behind as she started the shower water.

"Whoa Kace, they're called boundaries. Respect them." I could tell she was teasing, not really caring that I was in here while she began undressing.

"Parker what the hell?!" I said stopping her after she stripped off her t-shirt, forcing her to look at me. She finally looked up at me and saw that I was fuming.

"What's the big deal Kacey? Trust me, it wasn't some big kumbaya circle or anything like that. I talked to her for like two minutes and she basically just repeated what mom had already told us while I sat there trying not to fall apart. I didn't want to freak her out any more than she already did with mom." I didn't care that it was weird when Parker saw her or that she barely got to see her, it still wasn't fair in my head.

"It doesn't matter Parker, it's not fair! What did mom say about it?" When Mom woke me up so that I could finish homework she had said Parker left the house upset and that she had gone out on a run to cool down. I could tell that something had gone down between them and based on Parkers bad temper I figured she had started it and was going to get in trouble.

"What?" She asked with furrowed eyebrows, "Mom didn't care, I'm going to shower and then she's going to help me with my math, so if you don't mind?" She gestured for me to leave the bathroom but I stood my ground pissed that Parker wasn't in trouble for not only blowing up on mom but then going against the rules and running off to see mama.

"Are you serious!? This is such bullshit! You never get in trouble for anything and if you get to see mama then I should be able to see her too!" I turned back to our room not wanting to be around my sister anymore, but she followed me forcing me to face her when she grabbed my wrist.

"You're kidding right Kacey!? I get in trouble all the time and I told you, I hardly saw her and I apologized to mom for acting stupid! You're making a big deal out of nothing, so stop!" I pulled my wrist out of her grasp and grabbed a pair of shoes off the floor slipping them on quickly. "What are you doing?"

I looked back at Parker as I made my way to the door, "I'm going to see mama."

She laughed before replying, "Good luck getting past mom."

"And why wouldn't I be able to go?! Huh Parker? Didn't you JUST get back from there? If you're free to do whatever you want then so am I!" Just as Parker was about to yell back the door flew open.

"Why is everyone yelling, what's going on in here!?" It wasn't super common for me and Parker to fight for real, but when we did it could get a little loud. "And where are you going?" She asked looking down and pointing to my shoes.

"I'm going to see mama." I simply stated before quickly making my way past my mother. Right before I reached the stairs I felt someone grab me by the back of my shirt, pulling me back towards my room.

"Kacey it's almost 11, you're not going anywhere. You can see her another time, she'll still be there tomorrow." I tried to release myself from her grip but struggled not being able to.

"No way! Parker got to see her, now it's my turn! And I want to go now, so that's what I'm going to do!" I knew that there was no way I was getting out of this house now, but I definitely wasn't going to stop now after I had already made a big scene so I continued to do my best to get away from my mom and down the stairs.

"Excuse me? Since when do you get to do whatever you want?" My mom questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Since Parker got to do whatever she wanted to do, that's when!" I finally felt my mom wrap both arms around me from behind to stop my thrashing.

"Parker does not get to do whatever she wants and neither do you, so everyone please calm down." I figured this was a good time to give in the fight that I had no way of winning and leaned back into my mother's embrace. I felt defeated and I just wanted to have our family back together like it was a couple of weeks ago.

"I just want mama." It came out as a whisper and by now silent tears had begun to run down my face rapidly. I heard my mom sigh before she replied with a soft, "I know baby." She turned me around in her arms hugging me tightly. I relaxed into her embrace and my eyes caught Parker's as I looked up. She held my gaze for a minute before turning into the bathroom.

I felt bad that I had yelled at her but I was still angry. I don't even really know why, I just wanted to be angry with someone and she was right there. It was easy to pick I fight with Parker because she always fought back no matter what. It was easy to push her buttons and get under her skin, but I already didn't have mama and I didn't want to pull away from Parker too.

"Why don't you go to bed honey?" I nodded before pulling away from my mom and slipped my shoes back off as I picked up my laptop and set it on top of parker's dresser. Mom stayed until I was in bed and gave me a kiss on the forehead before leaving me in the room alone.

It wasn't long until I heard Parker moving in the room, I closed my eyes tightly hoping that she would think I was asleep. I heard her leave the room and figured she was going downstairs to get help with her math.

I was still up when she returned back to my room. I was having trouble sleeping due to the fact that I was so worked up not that long ago. I had my eyes closed and continued to pretend to be asleep when I felt myself sink down into the mattress as Parker sat in bed next to me. "I know you're awake loser." She said teasingly, but I wasn't in the mood so I didn't say anything back to her.

After a few minutes of silence I felt her lay down and wrap an arm around my waste pulling me into her "Come on Kace, don't be like that."

Finally I rolled over, knowing that she wasn't going to leave until I gave her my attention. "What do you want Parker?" I asked in a whisper due to the closeness of our faces.

"I'm really sorry that you didn't get to see mama. And I'm sorry that I yelled at you. I know this whole things sucks and I just couldn't stay away. Please don't be mad. I promise to break all the rules and sneak you into the house to see her tomorrow. We can climb through the guest bedroom window and everything like burglars or something if we have to, it'll be fun." I knew she was being sincere and appreciated her willingness to help me see her. Parker had always been there for me, honestly she was the best big sister ever. She took care of us even when she didn't want to or have to and I knew how hard this was for her.

"I'm not mad. I just miss her." She nodded and pulled me into a hug, "And that does sound fun, but you have to get caught and be punished." I knew that she was aware that I was only teasing, but she nodded anyways as a giggle escaped her lips, "I promise."

I smiled cuddling into her, "Can you sleep here tonight?" Like I had hoped she nodded and began to rub my back soothingly while I drifted off to sleep.

 **[Paige's POV]**

After breaking up the girls and getting Kacey into bed I walked to the end of the hall to check on Taylor to make sure she hadn't been woken up by the yelling. I peaked my head through the door and saw that she had managed to stay asleep. I walked in and kissed her head lightly before exiting the room, closing the door gently behind me silently thanking the universe for giving me one easy child. I knew that things were going to be tough after Emily's accident but taking care of everybody by myself was finally waring on me.

I walked back downstairs to turn off the TV before returning back upstairs and going to mine and Emily's room. I walked into the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth before crawling in bed. It was weird not having Emily here with me. We'd been together so long that I had gotten used to constantly having her around. Taking care of the girls by myself was becoming a lot, especially with everyone being in such a grumpy state due to Emily's absence. Like Parker, I just wanted Emily back already. I needed her to get better and be here for the family because without her things were a lot tougher on everyone.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep my cellphone started buzzing on the bedside table. I rolled over and tilted the screen seeing that it was Emily calling. At this point it was after 12 and I was a little worried that something had happened. I answered quickly and put the phone to my ear, "Hey Em, is everything alright?"

I could hear her breathing lightly on the other end waiting briefly before responding, "Yeah everything's fine, just couldn't sleep."

I nodded before realizing she couldn't see me, "I'm glad you called. I'm sorry about Parker turning up at your parent's house, I should've known when she went out that she would end up there."

"It's fine. Any of them can come see me at any time, I mean I am their mother. I don't expect them to just be able to pretend that I'm not a part of their lives because I need some time. I get that this is hard on everyone and not just me." I was grateful for her understanding on how hard this was for all of us. I also was happy that she wasn't trying to push any of us away.

"Good because I think Kacey might drop by some time tomorrow, she was a little mad that Parker got to see you and she didn't." I heard Emily sigh and I knew she thought that it was her fault that the girls were once again upset.

"Was it bad? I didn't even think of it being unfair."

"I've seen worse fights between them. They had a little screaming match, but I think it was good for both of them, you know get a little anger out. They probably already made up, it's impossible for those two to stay mad at each other." When I never got a reply I just figured that she had nodded like I had before, forgetting that we couldn't see each other.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes before she spoke again, "Hey can I ask you something about Parker?"

She sounded a little timid and not knowing what they had discussed earlier I was a little nervous about the question she had, but I knew it was part of my job to fill in the blanks for her, "Of course."

She waited a minute before responding, "I asked her what brought us so close together. I mean earlier today you said that she was taking it hard because we were really close and I was just curious as to why, but when I asked she said she didn't want to talk about it and she got kind of upset. Why?"

I sighed knowing that I would eventually have to inform her of this sooner or later. It's not that it was bad what brought Parker and Emily close together, but it was just something that we didn't really talk about anymore. "It was just this thing that happened when she started school. You picked her up one day and I guess the next day another kid was asking who you were. When Parker told them that you were her mom a couple of the kids said that you couldn't be because you guys didn't look alike."

I sighed before I continued, remembering Parker coming home with a million questions about it that night, "She came home asking us a bunch of questions about 'why her skin wasn't dark like yours' and 'how come her hair was brown like mine and not black like yours'. We explained to her how it was because she came out of me and how Kacey looked like you because she had come from you. But we made sure she understood that it didn't make either one of us any less her mother or Kacey her sister."

"So how did that make me and Parker close?"

"Well even though Parker understood that we were both her mothers and that she was equally both of ours, not everyone thought of it that way. The kids at her school still would say stuff to her about it and although she never thought it was true, it still got under her skin sometimes. So I don't really know when it started but she just all of a sudden always wanted you and she started following you around everywhere you went. We just figured that she wanted to make sure that you would care for her and love her just as much as Kacey even though she didn't come from you. But by the time she got over it and realized that you loved her the same as Kacey she had become extremely attached to you and I guess it just never wore off."

I took a small breath before continuing, "I mean you guys were already really close before it all happened so when she stopped worrying about what other people were saying it had gotten a little intense, but you didn't seem to mind. You loved the attention you got from her and you loved to give it back. You two just have always connected on another level. Even just before your accident, you guys still understood each other and were kind of like best friends."

Emily didn't respond immediately and I sat quietly as she let the new information sink in. "Did the other kids ever ask questions about not being biologically related to one of us?"

"No Parker was really the only one. But honestly she only was concerned about it for a month or two before she realized that we were a family just like anyone else. I'm pretty sure Parker always kept an eye out for Kacey while at school when they were younger and even now in high school, Parker still makes sure nobody says anything to either of them about our family."

Emily had always been pretty good at handling other people talking about our family being different. Of course nowadays it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been when we were in high school and even then it wasn't that bad. I had even gotten a lot better at handling the snide remarks that were thrown in our direction every now and then.

We usually just ignored them, but Parker was another story. She wouldn't think twice about upper cutting someone who said anything remotely bad about her family, in fact she had slugged a girl in the jaw back when she was a sophomore, who had said something to Kacey about having two moms. Because of that, people at their school didn't ever comment on our family, also because Kacey and Parker were both very liked by most of the students at the school and not many seemed to have a problem with it.

"From the few things I've heard so far and the couple of times I've been able to hang out with them, we seem to be an amazing family. I wish I could remember everything about all of them. It must have been fun watching them grow up." I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was upset that she couldn't remember.

"It was the best time ever, but don't worry you'll remember it all someday. And if your memory never comes back then we'll tell you every story that is worth telling and even some of the ones that aren't. Plus you still have years and years of raising all three of them ahead of you, you'll get a chance to experience it babe, I promise." By the sniffling coming from the other end of the phone, I figured that was something she needed to hear.

"I love you Paige. I love you so much and I'm so thankful that you and the girls are being patient with me while I try to pull my head together. I know I'm not ready at this particular moment to come home but I can't wait until I am because I really want to experience this with you. I want to be able to tuck them in and wake them up in the morning and fall asleep with you and just be the family that I keep hearing about because it sounds like a pretty good one."

A small smile crept onto my face as my hope that she would be back home with us soon raised, "I love you too Em. And we're ready when you are baby, just say when."

We said our goodbyes before hanging up and I reached over setting my phone back on the bedside table. I snuggled back into the sheets closing my eyes feeling relieved that Emily seemed to be getting more excited about coming home. I knew that it probably wasn't going to happen tomorrow, but I still couldn't help but get my hopes up that'd it'd be soon.

I drifted off to sleep thinking of Emily and how lucky we were to have such a great family. It was just as good as the one we would discuss about having until the early hours of the morning back in college. Everything we dreamed of had come true and this was just going to be a small bump in the road. For the first time in the last couple of days, I honestly believed that everything was going to be okay in the end.


	8. Chapter 8

**[Paige's POV]**

 **6 am**

I groaned as the beeping from my alarm clock blared through the room. I hit the snooze quickly and sunk back down into the sheets. I was exhausted and stayed up way to late last night. I figured I could squeeze a few more minutes of sleep out of the morning before I had to get out of bed, but the blaring music from downstairs and the load crushing noise that I assumed was the blender made it nearly impossible.

I forced myself up and made my way downstairs to find an all too joyous Parker dancing around the kitchen. I reached over to the iPod deck sitting on the counter and turned the music off, gaining Parkers attention. "Oh hey mom, sorry was the music to loud?"

"How long have you been up for and how do you possibly have so much energy, I literally feel like I'm going to die." I sat down at the kitchen table and held my head up with my hand, waiting for a response.

"I got up at 5 to go for my run and then I got back 20 minutes ago. You know the big meet's tomorrow, I have to be ready. Plus sometimes I can function of minimum sleep if I load myself with caffeine. It's one of the many perks of being young mom, which you wouldn't understand anymore." I peaked out at Parker to see the teasing smirk on her face.

"Well it's a perk that only you appear to have. I guarantee, you are the only teenager who has been up since 5 who is anywhere near happy about it, but whatever, you got anymore of whatever you're eating. You kids are killing me and I'm starving." I laid my head down on the table and shut my eyes before I heard someone running down the stairs, knowing it was Taylor based on the sole fact that Kacey has never willingly gotten out of bed this early.

I was proved right when I heard Taylor yell out as she turned the corner entering the kitchen, "Mommy!" I felt her arms wrap around me as I lifted my head up and she climbed into my lap. I helped her up and looked over at Parker who was smiling at me, "This morning Kacey's my favorite." I turned my attention back to Taylor, "Morning munchkin."

"Morning mom, I'm hungry." She looked up at me with a small pout as she patted her stomach.

"Perfect. Your big sister was about to hand over some of her leftovers." I looked over at Parker who was rolling her eyes with a small smile.

"Fine here you can have my eggs but neither of you are touching my smoothie," She started making her way over to me with the pan and a plate, setting it down in front of me. "I swear sometimes I wonder how you survived on your own without mama."

"Before your mother I had my parents. They fed me." I smiled up at her before digging in to the plate of eggs in front of me with Taylor.

"Pathetic." She scoffed, which I returned with a shrug. "Anyways I have to get going. Some kid in my class offered to help me before that math test since we got nothing done last night." She leaned down and kissed me on the cheek and ruffled Taylor's hair before making her way towards the door, "I'll see you at practice, I'm going to try to get there a little early so I can get a couple extra laps in."

"Not fair, I knew how to do some of it." I called out after her as I heard the door open.

"Yeah sure mom, you did great." I didn't appreciate the sarcasm in her voice as the door shut behind her, but didn't expect anything less from Parker. I stood up, momentarily lifting Taylor off of my lap and then setting her back down in my place as she continued to eat the eggs Parker had left behind.

"How hard is it going to be to get your other sister out of bed this morning? Do I even have a chance?" I asked with my hand resting on the top of her head.

She didn't even bother to swallow before she replied, "No way!" I laughed knowing that she was right, "Yeah I don't think so either kid." Maybe it wasn't so bad having two kids that were up at the crack of dawn every morning it made things much easier than it did with Kacey when it came to mornings, most days we had to literally drag her from her mattress. But I headed upstairs to give it a shot anyways.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I hardly slept at all last night. For someone who couldn't remember half of their life I sure had a lot of things running around in my head. I wasn't getting much rest just laying here, so I decided to go downstairs and grab something to eat. It was a little past eight now and I was hit with the smell of pancakes as soon as I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

I made my way down the stairs and entered the kitchen, finding my mom flipping pancakes over the stove. "Morning mom." I said as I sat down at the counter.

"Hey honey, help yourself to as many as you'd like. I wasn't sure what your plans were for the day but figured you would have enough time to eat a little something." She never turned around as she spoke to me but I wasn't surprised that she had gone out of her way to make breakfast, she was always looking for an excuse to feed someone. I bet she was one of those typical grandmas who made the kids sit down and eat her food whether they were hungry or not.

"Thanks mom." I said as I pulled a couple of pancakes onto a plate and began eating. "I'm not really sure what I'm going to do all day. What do I usually do?" I asked genuinely not knowing what my schedule was usually like.

It was a weird question to ask, especially because I couldn't even guess the answer if I wanted to. My mom turned around facing me for the first time this morning, "Well you and Paige usually get the girls off to school and then you go to work, I guess. When you aren't working then you usually just run errands and do things around the house."

I nodded my head, "So what is it that I do, anything glamorous?"

She let out a small laugh as she joined me at the counter, a cup of coffee in hand. "I wouldn't exactly say glamorous, but you seem to enjoy it. Do you remember that college that sits just outside of town?" I nodded well aware of the school she was talking about, "Well you coach their swim team."

I guess that makes sense. I had always loved swimming and although it took me more than a year before I could swim again after I hurt my shoulder, I had been able to return. I wasn't as strong of a swimmer as I was before of course, but eventually I got my times back to what they had been before my injury and even improved some of them, having a pretty good college career. I remember considering coaching swim an option as a career because I had always believed that it would be easy to teach others about something you loved to do.

"So I'm guessing they've given me some time off because of the accident." She simply nodded before I continued, "What about Paige, what does she do?" I shoveled another piece of pancake into my mouth as I waited for her response.

"She teaches at the high school and also coaches their swim team." I was kind of surprised that Paige had become a teacher at the high school. I mean I guess it wasn't so far-fetched, she had mentioned going into teaching once or twice but she was never huge on school. I wasn't surprised however that she coached swim as. Thinking about it now, that's probably why she went into teaching in the first place, just so she would be able to coach.

"Is it the same school that the girls go to?" I asked wondering if Paige coached them.

"Yes. The girls love her being the coach, especially Parker because then she can stick to the team's strict swim routine even when they aren't in season. You help her train a lot too." My mother stood up to put our plates in the sink once we were both done eating and began to rinse them off.

"What about Kacey? We don't help her?" I asked wondering why Parker seemed to be more excited about having access to Paige and I as coaches at all times, but not Kacey.

"Oh you guys definitely help her and so does Parker, she's just not as into the intensive training thing. She's kind of just naturally good at swimming. Of course she still trains and puts extra time into it but nowhere near as much as Parker does. She's more in it for the fun. She likes to be in the water so she swims." I simply nodded, being able to understand that.

"Does Taylor swim to?" My mom turned around while chuckling, "Soccer player."

My eyebrows rose in surprise. Seeing my reaction my mom continued, "Yeah I know. No one can figure out how it happened but we all kind of just went with it. The girl has no interest in swimming back and forth in a pool. If she can't splash around and do cannonballs off the edge she wants nothing to do with it."

I laughed imagining Parker and Kacey training with Paige and I as Taylor ran amuck, jumping in and out of the pool. I wondered what kind of things we did together. Obviously we probably spent a lot of time in the pool together, but were we the kind of family that hung out all the time and did things together. Or were we the kind of family who spent just enough time together to know each other, but if any of the kids had an out, they would rather run off with their friends.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when my mom spoke, "I have a few things that I have to run and do today, but you're welcome to use the car if you want to go somewhere or if there's anything you want to do. If not, you can stay here all day and just hang around." I nodded before she left the room.

What the hell was I supposed to do all day? I figured that Paige and the girls would be at school most of the day so I didn't have any of them to hang out with or talk to. My mom would be gone for a while and my dad wasn't home either. I finally just decided to sit around for a couple of hours and then maybe go on a run or something later to clear my head a little.

 **3 pm**

I was never the kind of person who just sat around the house all day, it was starting to drive me a little crazy just sitting around watching TV. I was starting to think and wonder too much about what my life was like and what my kids were doing and I just couldn't stop the gears in my head from turning. Thinking so much about how little I really know started to upset me so I finally grabbed a pair of shoes and went for that run I was thinking about earlier.

After running for a while a figured that school had to be out by now and decided to stop by the high school to see if swim practice was going on. I wasn't sure if they practiced in the morning or after school but I thought it was worth a shot. I needed to be around someone today and I missed Paige so I was really hoping they were still there.

I finally arrived at the high school around 4 and there weren't a ton of kids around. I walked through the hallways quickly, making my way towards the pool. When I got close to the entrance of the pool I could hear the distant noise of the splashing of water and once I was right outside of the door I heard what I knew was Kacey's voice.

I slowly entered the room and stopped just inside of the door. Kacey was sitting on the edge of the pool with a stop watch in her hands while someone was finishing up a lap. As the other girl lifted her head out of the water once she reached the wall I saw that it was Parker. They were the only two people in here and I figured they had stayed after practice to get in some extra work like me and Paige used to.

"Come on Parker what's with you, you're still over 2 seconds off your regular time?" Kacey stated while turning the stopwatch around and showing it to Parker.

Parker tore her goggles off of her face before sighing in frustration, "I have no idea what I'm doing wrong! I've been off all week and the big meets tomorrow."

I continued to watch them as they remained oblivious to my presence.

"Well stop swimming the laps the same way every time, you have to be doing something wrong just try something different. Maybe you're just tired, you've been training like your life depends on it Parker, loosen up a little. Come on one more lap, you got this." Parker simply nodded before pulling her goggles back on and lifting herself out of the pool climbing up onto the starting block.

"Okay, on your whistle Kace." Parker bent down into position as she took a deep breath. This was the first time I was getting to see her swim and I was excited. I had probably been here a lot in the last few years since the girls started school, but because of the accident I felt like it was the first time in ages. It was bringing back a lot of high school memories and I couldn't help but feel a sort of pride rise in my chest as I watched on.

Kacey waited for Parker to get set before she whistled loudly, sending Parker into the water. The inner coach in me suddenly came out as I watched the form of her stroke and the power behind it. Watching closely for any possible error that would explain the extra 2 seconds on her time. Everything seemed perfect until she approached the wall getting ready to go into her turn. I watched as she reappeared from under the water, going back into her strokes finishing the lap rather quickly.

Kacey threw her head back in frustration and when Parker lifted her head out of the water and saw Kacey's reaction she knew that her time hadn't improved at all. She again ripped off her goggles and groaned, "I have no idea what to do. Maybe you're right and I went a little overboard this week and my body's just tired."

"It's your turn." I shouted towards them, finally making my presence known.

Both of their heads turned quick in my direction, surprised that they weren't alone. When they didn't say anything I continued, "You're waiting too long on your turn and it's causing you to hesitate because you're too close to the wall. Start it, maybe, a stroke sooner and you'll still get the same power when you push off the wall but you'll lose the slight hesitation because you'll have more room to move. It shouldn't be knocking you back a whole 2 seconds but it should make up a little bit of time."

Parker looked frustrated with herself as if she should have known that was the problem the whole time, and continuously nodded as she lifted herself out of the pool once more and back onto the starting block. Kacey simply looked over at me and patted the spot next to her on the floor, signaling me over. I walked over slowly and sat down next to her crisscrossing my legs.

"Alright hot shot, ready?" Parker bent down getting into position before nodding, in which Kacey then again whistled loudly sending Parker off.

I watched on as Parker had no problem correcting her previous error and turned way smoother than she had before at the other end of the pool. As she approached the wall Kacey began to chant 'come on' quietly to herself as her eyes moved continuously from the stopwatch to her sister.

Parker reached the wall and both Parker's and my gaze flew up to Kacey for the time, "Oh man she's good. You managed to shave off a full second which isn't bad. I really think that you're just tired and we should call it a day, give your body some recovering time."

Parker agreed and pulled herself out of the pool as Kacey waited for her so she could hand her a towel. "Thanks. You want to go a couple laps before mom makes us leave?" Parker asked as she wrapped the towel around her shoulders, tossing her swim cap and goggles onto the floor before sitting down next to Kacey.

"No I'm beat from practice. Plus mom said that my times were some of my best all season today and I don't want to overwork myself like someone I know." She threw a cocky smile in her sister's direction and before Kacey had a chance to stop her, Parker had her hands on Kacey's back shoving her with full force into the pool.

Kacey popped up out of the water laughing, not worried about being pushed into the pool because she had already been wet anyways from swim practice. "What was that for?" She asked between giggles as she treaded water a few feet back from the edge where me and Parker were still sitting.

"Because it's annoying. You somehow manage to swim just as well as me without even trying." Parker wasn't really mad but rather just announcing her frustrations about her younger sister's swimming ability.

Kacey seemed to love Parker's admittance of her being just as good and had a smug look on her face, "What can I say, I was blessed with mama's swimming arms." Parker rolled her eyes at Kacey before directing her attention to me.

I looked at her and smirked while shrugging, "I do have nice arms." Parker shook her head trying to fight the smile creeping on her face but failing. This sent Kacey into a fit of giggles.

"It's true. Your mother has amazing arms." Parker and I turned around a little startled by the fourth voice that had spoken out. We were met with a smiling Paige before Kacey pulled herself out of the pool making a gagging noise. "Alright I'm getting out of here before weird things began to happen between the two of you. I can only imagine the sexual frustration you two must have after being apart for almost three weeks." She shook her head quickly, as if trying to remove the thought.

Parker nodded as she stood up tossing her towel at Kacey, "First of all Kacey please don't refer to anything sexual when involving our parents. But yeah seriously we need to leave, I'm still haunted by the last time I walked in on you guys…you know…doing…weird stuff." Parker shook her body in disgust as she recalled an apparently bad experience that she must have had.

"What!?" I asked a little alarmed by Parker's statement as I turned to question Paige who was laughing as Parker and Kacey quickly made their way back to the locker room.

"Don't look at me like that, it was one time and it wasn't THAT bad. They're just being dramatic." Paige shrugged as she reached her hand out to pull me up out of my sitting position.

"We'll be back in 5 minute, please don't be doing anything that we would rather not witness when we come back." Kacey shouted back as they disappeared from the room.

"They've caught us having…doing stuff?" I asked feeling weird that our kids or at least one of them has seen us in a compromising position. I mean I guess that kind of thing happens once you have kids, right? But still it made me feel weird considering, in my head, I had technically just met these people.

Paige laughed at my clear discomfort, "Yes Em, they've caught us having sex. You know we are married and have kids now, people know we do it. You can say sex babe, it's not a big deal anymore. We aren't back in high school with open door policies and rules about not being able to be upstairs together if no one else is home." I was kind of surprise by Paige's comfort with talking about this. She used to squirm and turn red at the mention of anything sexual at all. I guess she had gotten over that at some point during the rules I couldn't remember.

I nodded, remembering that she was right. We're married and people expected us to have a sex life, but it was still weird that our kids had seen it happening. "Just because people know, doesn't mean I want an audience during it." I stated truthfully.

"Don't worry it was once and they seem to be much more cautious now about entering our room, it actually was a beneficial experience once everyone got over it. I think it was what finally taught the kids how to knock on doors. Before they walked in on us it was a freaking free for all in our house." I giggled picturing the story she was telling in my head as she continued on, "I'm serious Em, we had no privacy, but you got a real kick out of it. I don't think Parker could make eye contact with either of us for weeks and even though Kacey didn't really see anything, every time she entered a room in the house she had her hand tightly clasped over her eyes and she would shout out 'everyone decent'. It was hilarious."

Almost as if on cue to prove that her story was true Kacey entered the room cautiously with her hand over her eyes and peaked through her fingers timidly as Parker followed behind her with her eyes glued to the floor as her body shook from laughter, "Oh thank god." Kacey exclaimed dramatically, she turned around to speak to Parker, "We're clear Parker, everyone's dressed."

Parker slowly lifted her head still wary that her sister may not be right before letting out a sigh of relief, "Whew. Thanks for behaving yourself, I don't think I would have survived if I had to witness another…" Parker gestured her hands around in front of her, in attempt to explain what she must have saw previously, "…whatever that was that temporarily blinded me."

Kacey laughed as Parker's face morphed into one of pure disgust. I turned to Paige with a raised eyebrow now curious as to what exactly it was that Parker had to witness, "What were we doing that apparently scarred our daughter for life?"

Paige was about to answer when Kacey quickly interrupted swinging her hand fiercely in front of her gesturing for Paige to stop, "No! No no no no no." She pointed an index finger at Paige with a serious look on her face, "NO! We don't speak of this. This isn't the kind of thing that family's share. We as children would rather pretend that that kind of stuff just doesn't go on anymore."

Parker nodded in agreement with the same stern look on her face as her younger sister. Paige rolled her eyes as a small laugh escaped her lips, "Fine, I'll stop." Paige threw her arm over my shoulder and pulled me close, "But we do have an amazing sex life."

Paige was laughing hard as both girls shuddered and they're face contorted into pure terror, "Come on mom, that's gross!" Parker exclaimed followed by Kacey, "Ughh seriously, I can't! Please make her stop mama." Kacey sounded desperate and I couldn't help the huge smile that broke out on my face. I slightly hit Paige's shoulder giving her a stern look. Although this was kind of fun, the girls looked horrified and I was still a little uncomfortable discussing this with them.

"Alright, I'll stop. You guys ready to head home?" The girls sighed thankfully as they threw their bags over their shoulders ready to leave.

"Can mama come over for dinner?" I was slightly taken back by Kacey's question before I heard Parker jump in, "Yeah come on mama it'll be fun. We can tell stories and stuff to try to get your memory back on track or whatever." They both looked at me hopefully.

I looked up at Paige who still had her arm casually thrown around my shoulders to find the same hopeful look on her face, "Come on Em. You don't have to stay the night or anything, I'll drive you back to your parent's after dinner."

I was having a good time with them already, although I had only been here for about an hour, what could dinner hurt. It might help me sort some things out in my head, being around them and I had been waiting to hear some of the stories that our family had. It sounded fun and Paige did say that there was no pressure to stay or anything if I didn't want to, maybe it'd be good for all of us.

"Umm, yeah sure. I'd love that." I nodded as I spoke and knew that it was good for everyone when Kacey and Parker smiled bigger than I had ever seen and practically skipped out of the room. I tore my eyes away from them when Paige retrieved her arm from around my shoulders and laced our fingers together smiling down at me. "If you start freaking out at any point let me know okay."

Although she seemed to be happy that I was coming over for dinner I could still see the worry behind her eyes, "I'll be fine Paige," I squeezed her hand tighter to reassure her that I was telling the truth. "I want to spend time with you guys, I don't even know why I freaked out so much the other day. It seemed like a lot to just jump right back into a life that I had no idea what to expect from. But I want to start being around you guys more. I want to get better and I don't think that I can do that if I completely hide from you guys."

Paige nodded her head in understanding, "I'm glad you want to start being around us more. We've all really missed you Em." I nodded up before Paige's lips met mine in a small kiss, "I've missed you too," I whispered against her lips as I felt her deepen it slightly, eventually running her tongue against my bottom lip. I lifted my hand to cup her cheek as I slightly opened my mouth allowing her tongue entrance. Her hands dropped to grip my waist tightly as my other hand tangled in her hair. We quickly grew breathless, completely engrossed in the kiss and I was about to pull away just enough to take a breath before continuing the kiss when a loud groan from the other end of the room forced me and Paige apart.

"Really is this necessary?!" both mine and Paige's head turned to see Kacey standing with her back turned to us while she stood in the entrance of the room, she peaked over her shoulder cautiously, "Now if you guys are done sucking faces, Parker and I have been waiting patiently in the car."

Paige laced our fingers together once again smiling down at me before leading me over to Kacey, "Sorry kiddo, we're done." Paige rested her hand on top of Kacey's head slightly ruffling her hair before dropping it back to her side once we caught up to her. We walked together to the white SUV where Parker was indeed waiting patiently in the back seat. We all climbed into the car and I looked in the rearview mirror just in time to notice Kacey slightly nodding at Parker who scrunched her face up and shook her head.

Paige pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the road. After we had been driving for a couple of minutes I furrowed my eyebrows, "Wait do we live right by my parents?" I asked Paige confused as to why we were driving towards their house. I still wasn't sure where our house was located so maybe we lived close by.

"Oh no, your mom picks up Taylor sometimes from school and watches her for us since I'm at school late when we practice in the late afternoons instead of the mornings, and you are usually still at work too. We're just going to swing by and pick her up real quick and then we'll head home."

I nodded as Paige continued on the road to my parents. It wasn't long before we pulled up in front of the house and Paige exited the car making her way up to the front door. The door opened and Taylor slowly appeared running past Paige after a quick 'hello' and running over to the SUV as Kacey got out of the car to let her slip into the middle seat. "Mommy said you were coming to our house tonight." I turned in my seat so I could see the younger girl and nodded my head.

"Yep. I'm going to stay over for dinner. Is that okay?" I smiled back at the little girl as she nodded her head furiously. I watched her as she continued to move around in the backseat excitedly. I couldn't help but smile as the other two girls wrestled Taylor into her seat and strapped the seatbelt on her, trying to get her to sit still.

I turned my attention back to the front door where Paige was still talking to my mother. They talked for a few minutes before Paige gave her a small hug and turned to make her way back to the driver's side of the car. My mother stepped out onto the porch and waved at the car before we pulled away from the house.

The three girls were engaged in conversation in the seat behind us, so I turned my attention to Paige, "So you seem a lot closer to my mom than you used to be."

Paige nodded her head not taking her eyes off the road while she spoke back to me, "Well yeah that tends to happen when you've been married to someone's child for seventeen years Em." She let out a small chuckle as I nodded forgetting that we have been married for so long.

"Right. Well I'm glad she eventually fully came around to the idea of her daughter being gay." How harsh my statement came out surprised me and by the look on Paige's face, it surprised her too.

I know my mom had always tried to be open minded about the whole thing after she had realized how much it hurt me to know she didn't accept me when she first found out that I was gay, but I didn't always feel like it was genuine. Even when I was dating Paige in high school and later when we went off to college together, sometimes I would catch her flinching or looking away if we said something wrong or got to touchy feely around her.

"Em come on it's not like that anymore alright. It hasn't been for a long time. You both let it go years ago. I know you didn't always feel like she accepted your lifestyle but before we had the kids you guys worked it out." Paige was now whispering in my directions and when her eye's flickered up to the rearview mirror. I let my eyes follow, noticing that my comment had caught the older two girl's attention.

"Sorry I don't know where that came from." I said shaking my head slightly before moving my gaze to the window. I felt Paige reach over the middle console and rest her hand on my thigh lightly squeezing it. I brought my eyes back to face her and she turned her head to shoot me a sympathetic smile before turning her eyes back to the road.

I knew this was probably a conversation that we shouldn't have in the car while the kids were here but my curiosity got the best of me. "What about your dad, he ever come around? I mean I know he always said that he was fine with it but I mean we all knew what he really thought about it."

Paige's face dropped a little bit and I knew I shouldn't have brought it up, but she answered quietly anyway, "More so when we had the kids, but Emily you know my dad always tried. He never said anything bad to us or anything like that once I was out."

I nodded and decided that it was best if the conversation ended there, knowing not to pry at this particular moment. It was true Paige's dad never said anything bad about us, or at least not to our faces. I guess kind of like my mom. Her and Nick didn't really like each other but they both were the ones to struggle with me and Paige being gay. Paige's mom and my dad never had a problem with it at all and took the news in great strides.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the car came to a stop and the back doors flew open as the kids unloaded themselves. Not waiting for us as they grabbed their bags out of the back hatch and quickly made their way into the house. Paige and I both remained in our seats sitting quietly as we unbuckled our seatbelts.

"I'm sorry I brought that up. I really don't know why I said anything. I shouldn't have, especially with the kids in the back like that." I looked down to my lap as I played with my hands.

Paige reached over and lifted my gaze to hers with her hand, "Emily its fine. I know that you probably don't remember having that talk with your mom and I know you don't know how my dad has acted past the way he did when we were in college. I also know that even after he was more open to the idea that you never really got over how he treated you back in high school and that's fine Em, nobody's holding it against you, so don't worry about it. You're allowed to feel however you do but try to remember that you've had years and years that you don't recall where you've worked things out with both of them for the most part."

I nodded before letting her continue, "And as far as the kids go we've already discussed it with them. We were very open with them and answered questions that they had, when it came to us and our family, which they took full advantage of so don't worry about bringing stuff up in front of them."

I nodded once again not really knowing what to say. Paige leaned over the console and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before looking at me again, "You ready to go inside?"

I looked up to the house for the first time before nodding and exiting the car. Paige quickly made her way to my side of the car and grabbed my hand as we began walking up the path to the front door. I didn't really feel as nervous as I thought I would. Of course I didn't recognize the house but for some reason it felt familiar to me. It was kind of like when I met the kids for the first time, I hadn't recognized them but at the same time I had this feeling of familiarity when I had first met all of them, like I knew they were mine. The same thing happened as I walked up to the front door and it just intensified as Paige opened the door and stepped to the side allowing me to enter the house.

It was a little messy but very homey. I stopped just inside of the door and watched as Paige tossed her keys on a table sitting next to the door before we continued into the house. We entered the living room where Taylor was already sitting on the couch watching TV. I looked around the rooms in view as I stood in the entry way where Paige had left me.

Paige quickly returned to my side moments later grabbing my attention, "Parker and Kacey ran upstairs to take showers, you want to help me start dinner while we wait?" I nodded before following Paige into the kitchen where we began to make dinner together.

Although being in the house hadn't helped me remember anything yet I still somehow felt like I belonged here. I didn't really know what to expect if my memory were to come back. I didn't know if I would wake up one morning and it would all just be back or if things would come back to me slowly, more of a one at a time kind of a thing. Honestly to me it didn't matter how it came back, but I wanted nothing more but it to come back at some point. After spending just an hour or so with them and having dinner to look forward to I wanted to remember everything so bad.

I couldn't imagine forgetting one story or one moment that we had together. It didn't seem fair for something so precious and valuable to be taken away from you, especially when they were memories that you couldn't get back once they were gone. If I didn't get my memory back I would never be able to remember the birth of my children or their first days of school, typical things that a mother held close to their hearts. I wouldn't remember all the moments I had with Paige and the moments we shared together as a family.

Once I realized this I decided that I needed to do everything in my power remember. I needed to spend as much time as I could with my family, look at pictures, watch videos, it didn't matter I needed to do whatever it took. And that's exactly what I was going to do, starting with this dinner.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**

 **Thanks again to everyone who continues to read my story, I hope you guys are still enjoying it. Just wanted to let you guys know that I probably won't be able to update for a couple of days because I'm going out of town and probably won't have much time to write, but I will try my best to update as soon as possible. Thanks again!**

 **[Emily's POV]**

Just as Paige and I were finishing up dinner Parker quickly made her way into the kitchen with a laughing Taylor who was hanging on her back. I smiled at the sight before Parker bent down allowing Taylor to drop down into the chair at the head of the table before she took a seat in the nearest chair. Parker's hair was still wet from the shower and hung loosely onto her back slightly wetting the fitting black tank top she was now wearing, along with a pair of grey sweats.

My attention was pulled away from them when Paige spoke from near the stove, "Where's Kacey? Is she out of the shower yet?"

Parker spun around in her chair to face herself towards me and Paige, "Yeah she was out before me, but she just had to talk to her little girlfriend." Just as Parker finished her statement, an annoyed Kacey entered the room wearing a similar outfit and smacked the older girl softly on the back of the head.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not gay?" Kacey sat down in the open seat next to Parker.

"Oh come on Megan's hot, I can't imagine you being able to do much better than that Kace. I say go for it baby sis." I watched on as Kacey rolled her eyes.

"Yeah and I'm the gay one." Parker laughed before Paige interrupted, "Okay no more questioning each other's sexuality at the dinner table."

I walked over towards the table and was about to sit down at the table when Kacey stopped me, "You sit over there mama, across from Parker." I looked over at the chair and then back at Paige who shrugged before nodding that it was true. I pushed the chair I was going to sit in back under the table and walked over to my proper seat as Paige brought the food over to the table.

Once all the food was on the table Paige joined us, sitting next to me as everyone began to put food onto their plates. Taylor looked up at me expectedly as she slid her plate towards me. I just looked at her not sure what to do, I mean obviously she wanted someone to help put her food on her plate but I had no idea what she ate or how much. I was saved when Paige reached over me and grabbed the plate, "How hungry are you Tay?"

"Super!" the little girl exclaimed before Paige began to shovel some of the food onto her plate and then gently set it down back in front of the youngest girl. I slowly began to put food on my plate, following everyone else's example and then began eating like everyone else.

We ate in silence for a few moments before Parker broke the silence, "Alright mama what do you want to know? You can ask us anything?"

I looked around finding that all eyes were on me, "Oh umm, I don't know I'm interested in anything you guys can come up with. Stories, things you guys like to do, I guess it doesn't really matter where we start."

Kacey was the first to answer "Okay, things we like to do. Hmm." She tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to think of something, "well as you know me and Park like to swim, and that little freak over there plays soccer for some reason."

"I'm not a freak, it's fun." Taylor yelled at her sister before throwing a pout in Paige's direction.

"Kacey be nice please." Paige quickly answered the youngest girl's silent request and I could already tell that Paige was probably wrapped around the little girl's finger.

Kacey shook off Paige as she nodded and continued on, "We don't really have many other set hobbies, I mean those things alone keep us pretty busy when schools in." Parker nodded in agreement while she continued to eat her dinner.

"Alright well what about school, do you guys do okay?" I asked, trying to continue the conversation.

"I do really well in school." Taylor stated, not even bothering to swallow all the food in her mouth.

Kacey nodded along with the rest of them, "I'm a straight A student. Probably the smartest in the house." She stated with a proud smile.

"They're all very smart and they all do the best they can." Paige said while giving Kacey a pointed look.

"Parker what about you?" I asked curiously her being the only one who hadn't answered.

Parker shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her plate, "I usually do good enough to pass, but I'm definitely not like Kacey, I guess schools just really not my thing."

"Why is that?" I questioned looking over at Paige wondering if it was okay to push to get more out of her. She simply answered for Parker, "She just has trouble staying focused sometimes. She tends to lose interest when she doesn't understand things."

I looked over to Parker who simply nodded, "I do pretty good in English and stuff like that but math and science kind of just go over my head."

"You and me both kid." Paige responded with a shake of her head.

"Yeah you definitely were always terrible at math." I said, recalling all the nights that Paige and I would do homework together back in high school and even later on in college. Paige had spent most of those night staring and groaning at each failed attempt she would make. I usually had to help her and I still have no idea how she had managed to pass most of those classes.

"Oh trust me I know. Who do you think I had to ask for help?" Parker laughed as she looked over at Paige.

Paige laughed along with her, "Hey I knew how to do some."

Kacey jumped in "As much as I love to tag team against Parker with you mom, you're terrible at math and when you help her you both just get even more lost." She stood up to rinse her plate off in the sink as she continued talking, "Seriously mama, they struggle more than fish out of water."

I laughed as Paige and Parker both wore the same offended expression, "What?! I happen to be very confident about the math test I took early." Parker stated confidently.

"Maybe but mom definitely didn't help you get there. You had to leave the house before the sun was up to get help from Jake." Kacey simply stated as she joined us back at the table.

"You know what Kace, one day you're going to need my help for something and I'm not giving it to you. I'm just going to watch you struggle. Cut me a break I can't help that math is hard." Paige said teasingly as the young girl stood her ground.

"She has a point. We can't help that math is hard." Parker offered as she nodded at Paige.

"Whatever, when I need help on something I'll just ask mama." Kacey said with a smirk as if she had found a loop hole.

"You do that." Paige replied as her and Parker both stood up to put their dishes in the sink, returning moments later.

I glanced around the room waiting for someone to continue. When no one did I decided to suggest something else, "Why don't you guys tell me a story."

"What kind of story?" Parker asked, clearly everyone needing a little guidance to find a story I would like.

I simply shrugged, "Anything. Umm, have any of you guys done something bad that's gotten you in trouble?"

Kacey was the first to suggest something, "I know! Let's tell her about that time she freaked out on Parker for coming home drunk."

"Ugh, please don't remind me of that morning. I've tried to block that day out of my memory completely." I chuckled at the girl across from me as she groaned, most likely recalling the experience before Paige jumped in.

"I'm pretty sure you tried to kill her Em. I mean seriously I didn't think she was going to make it." I looked back at Kacey who took it upon herself to tell the story, clearly she had enjoyed the experience much more than her older sister.

"Okay so it was last summer and Taylor was in bed. You, me, and mom had decided to have a movie marathon since Parker had never come home and we were waiting up for her anyways…

 _"_ _Seriously guys this movie is ridiculous, what are we even watching?"_ _Kacey questioned from her spot on the floor in front of the TV._

 _"_ _It's an old time horror film Kace. It's a classic now be quiet this is the best part." Paige responded from the couch where she sat cuddled up next to Emily._

 _Kacey rolled her eyes before turning back to the TV. After the scene she turned back around to face her parents. "These effects are terrible, why can't we watch a horror film that's worth my time this isn't even scary. It's just a lot of blood."_

 _"_ _It's called a classic Kacey," Emily stated from the couch, "And don't act all tough alright, we all know that you can't handle scary movies. Last time you watched a horror film that was up to date you couldn't sleep for a week."_

 _"_ _Yeah because the main character who gets murdered and then eaten in the end was also a swimmer named Kacey and we had a lot in common. Anybody would have been scared, I felt like the universe was trying to warn me of my future or something." Kacey said matter-of-factly as if it was obvious why the movie had scared her and to attempt to convince her parents that it was a fluke thing._

 _Emily and Paige both laughed before Emily responded, "Whatever you say sweetie."_

 _Just as Kacey turned around to face the TV again, there were multiple banging sounds coming from the front door before it opened and closed as Parker stumbled into the living room. She stopped dead in her tracks as she was met by three pairs of eyes on her. She quickly straightened up before starting to head over to the stairs._

 _"_ _Whoa, where do you think you're going? Do you have any idea what time it is Parker?" Emily asked as she stood up to meet Parker at the bottom of the stairs._

 _Parker held on tightly to the railing on the side of the stairs as she stood in front of the first step with her eyes planted to her mother's feet. She did her best to focus before slurring out a small 'sorry' and lightly swaying when Emily grabbed her face and forced her oldest daughter to look up at her._

 _"_ _Are you drunk right now?!" Emily asked shocked as she narrowed her eyes at the girl in front of her. Parker shook her head quickly to deny it but realized her mistake as she became dizzy from the fierce shaking of her head. Emily gripped her arms to steady her as she sighed angrily._

 _Paige was up off the couch standing next to them as Kacey watched on trying her best to hold in the small laugh trying to escape her lips. Emily looked over to Paige, "Can you get her to bed, I'll deal with her tomorrow when she can remember. There's no point in me doing anything tonight." Paige simply nodded as she lifted Parker over her shoulder and carried her up the stairs._

 _Kacey knew by the look in her mother's eye that Parker was really going to get it in the morning and made a mental note to never show up to the house drunk if Emily was ever around. Emily turned to face Kacey, never leaving the bottom of the stairs, "You." Emily pointed at Kacey whose attention was already fully on her. "Sleep in Taylor's room tonight." Emily told the girl as she started climbing the stairs, "Now Kacey. Go." Knowing her mother wasn't in the mood she jumped up from her spot on the floor and quickly made her way to her younger sister's room._

 _Emily entered her room and sat on the edge of the bed waiting for Paige to return. It only took her a few minutes before she cautiously entered, "Emily you need to calm down, she's a teenager these things happen."_

 _Emily looked up in disbelief, "Calm down?! One of our kids just showed up after 2 in the morning drunk off her ass and you want me to calm down?!"_

 _Paige looked over at Emily timidly after her sudden outburst, "Umm, maybe just a little bit." Emily scoffed at Paige before climbing into bed. "Come on Em, she feels bad about it already."_

 _"_ _Oh she's going to be sorry tomorrow when I get a piece of her." Emily said confidently as she reached over to set her alarm and laid down to go to sleep._

 _Paige hesitantly crawled into bed next to her, "So no to the calming down then."_

 _"_ _Nope." Emily simply stated as she faced Paige, "Not even a little bit." Paige nodded not wanting to get on Emily's bad side at this particular moment._

 ** _5 am_**

 _Emily turned off the alarm and got out of bed immediately making her way to the closet. Paige lifted her head groggily and peaked over to where Emily was now emerging from the closet dressed in a pair of shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt. "Babe what are you doing?"_

 _"_ _I'm going to go train with Parker." Emily casually said before leaving the room and heading down stairs. Paige furrowed her eyebrows before throwing the sheets off of her unwillingly with a groan and following after Emily quickly. By the time Paige reached the top of the stairs to chase after Emily to find out what exactly it was that she was doing, Emily was already making her way back upstairs and past Paige with a pot in her hand._

 _"_ _Em?" Paige questioned softly slightly worried as she watched her wife barge into Parker's bedroom. She winced herself as she heard the loud noise of something smashing against, what she assumed was the pot, loudly. She quickly entered the room and watched on as Emily banged a long metal spoon against the pot right over Parker's head who was groaning loudly begging for it to stop._

 _"_ _Come on Parker, time for training! I want you downstairs within the next ten minutes!" Emily exclaimed before headed out the door. I turned to find Parker slowly sitting up to look at me with squinted eyes, "She's not serious is she."_

 _Paige looked over at Parker who was in no shape to do anything, but there was no way I was getting on the wrong end of this fight, "No, I definitely think she's serious. You better get your butt downstairs quick before she really flips out. She was really pissed last night Parker, what were you thinking coming home like that?"_

 _Parker plopped back down onto the bed, "I hardly even remember making the decision to come home mom. I'm so sorry, please help me I think I'm dying."_

 _"_ _And that Parker is why we don't drink." Paige simply shook her head before helping her out of bed and helped her get ready._

 _The two walked downstairs a little while later hoping that Emily wasn't serious about making her train, but that hope died as they saw Emily standing by the front door dressed for a run and a whistle hanging from her neck. She blew the whistle and Parker nearly fell over as she grabbed her head, "Let's go Parker, you're late!" Parker looked up at me for help._

 _"_ _Emily. Honey. I really don't think this is the best way to-"I was caught off as Emily opened the front door, "You're not saving her this time Paige." I shrugged down at Parker not knowing what to do, "Good luck kid."_

 _Parker slowly made her way towards the door with a terrified look in her eyes as she finally reached Emily, "Alright Park, let's see what you got superstar. Three miles, you know the route." Parker's eyes widened as Emily forced her out the door and took off jogging, Parker looking back at me desperately before taking off after Emily._

 _"_ _Holy shit, she's going to die out there isn't she?" Paige turned around to meet Kacey's shocked face. "That girl doesn't stand a chance." I said, positive that Emily was about to go way overboard._

 _They were just over two miles into their run, already making their way back towards the house when Emily turned around slowing her pace to let Parker catch up. Emily reached down and blew her whistle loudly as Parker winced," Parker you're stopping too much. "Emily said as she saw Parker with her hands on her knees leaned over at the side of the road._

 _"_ _Yeah well tell my body to stop hurling and I will gladly continue to run at your pace mama. Can we please cut it short, I can't even see straight out here anymore, I'm a foot of jogging away from falling over dead?"_

 _"_ _Well maybe you should have thought of that before showing up to my house drunk!" Emily yelled while putting her hands on her hips not bothering to show mercy to the girl._

 _Parker looked up apologetically before standing up and pathetically trying to jog her way to her mother. "Can you at least let up on the whistle?" Emily answered the girls plead with another blow to her whistle just as Parker ran by her, "Jesus Christ!" Parker shouted as the whistle caught her off guard and send her head into a worse pounding that she didn't even know was possible._

 _After what seemed like days to Parker they were back to the house finally finished with the run. Parker entering and running straight for the bathroom feeling what was left in her stomach making its way up. Paige turned to Emily with a raised eyebrow, "A little much don't you think Em?"_

 _Emily shrugged and walked over to Paige, "You know what I think, I think she learned her lesson babe. And I highly doubt that any of our kids will ever dare to show up drunk again. And based on how many times Park has thrown up this morning I highly doubt that she will be having another drink anytime soon."..._

"Which I haven't. And I'm not going to for a long long time." Parker turned and looked over at me, "You know when we finally reached the house you added an extra quarter mile because you decided that I did in fact stop too much for your liking."

I looked at Parker unbelievingly, "I can't imagine actually doing that to you," I chuckled as she shook her head, "You poor thing, I'm so sorry."

Kacey continued laughing along with Paige, "I guess there really was a method to your madness though because we have had zero people show up drunk to our house since. But really, I was pretty sure you were going to kill her. She didn't move off the couch for the rest of the day. By the time she was home she was a mess. I mean head to toe covered in sweat and the vomit splatter on the shoes," Paige shuddered, "You definitely made it a rough lesson to learn."

I laughed along with the rest of them, "So I guess I'm the strict parent then?" I asked glancing over at Paige and then back to the girls.

"Definitely. Moms not even in the ballpark with you when it comes to punishment, she just pretends to be mad when you're around but as soon as your gone she lets us off the hook." Parker stated nodding her head as Paige began to protest.

"That's not true!" Paige stated quickly, but knowing Paige I knew she most likely let them get away with a lot.

Paige could be mean if she wanted to but she was a big softy and I could tell that the girls had her wrapped around their fingers. That's probably why I was considered the tough parent, I had to pick up Paige's slack and show them who was in charge. It was hard to imagine myself in that role though. I mean I had raised three kids but in my head I still felt like a newlywed who was just starting to want a baby, I never thought of myself as an experienced mother who apparently wasn't afraid to go a little over the top to teach her kid's lessons.

"Everyone want to pick on me and crack jokes but just wait until you guys get into trouble next time. I'm going to let mama go full blown nuts on you guys. Better watch out." Paige smirked as the girls faces instantly turned into regret when they started thinking about how much Paige actually helps them get out of things.

"I've never gotten in trouble for anything mama." Taylor said proudly as she looked up at me.

"Give it a couple years, I doubt she'll be able to keep her streak for much longer." Parker said sounding awfully confident as she ruffled Taylor's hair.

Parker stood up removing Taylor's plate from the table and walking it over to the sink. I was about to do the same with my plate but Paige beat me to it, reaching in front of me and grabbing the plate before meeting Parker at the sink. As much fun as I was having and as much as I wanted to stay it was getting a little late.

"Well I think it's about that time." I said casually as I stood up out of my chair. Every single pair of eyes turned to face me and they all had the same look of sadness in them. "It's just that it's getting late and I know you guys all have school tomorrow." I didn't know what a bad excuse it sounded like until everyone but Taylor started to suppress giggles.

"You heard her Tay, go get ready for bed." Paige stated gesturing for the girl to make her way upstairs, which she immediately did.

"Don't leave without saying bye." Taylor yelled back from the staircase sending the others into small laughs.

"Well she's very welled behaved and seems to do whatever she's told." I said based off of the observations that I had made over the course of the night.

Paige nodded as she made her way over to me, "She's the only one. We messed up on the first two but the third one…perfect."

I chuckled looking over to Kacey and Parker who were rolling their eyes and mumbling to each other as they made their way to the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Paige, don't say things like that to them." I wasn't sure if I was usually involved in the aggressive teasing that apparently went on in our house but in my head I was very new to the playfulness of the family and felt bad when someone got it.

"Oh come on Em they know I'm just messing with them. It's all in good fun, did you not hear them going at me during dinner?" I nodded agreeing that she had seemed to be just as much of a victim. Paige was now leading me over to the loveseat that sat adjacent to the other couch the girls were sitting on.

She pulled me down with her and I scooted close to her so that our thighs were touching. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder pulling me close as Kacey looked for something to watch. "I should really get going." I said to Paige quietly as she looked down at me.

"You heard the little one you aren't allowed to leave until she says bye." I nodded knowing that I shouldn't leave with the little girl upstairs. We sat in a comfortable silence for a little bit until Parker spoke up.

"Hey mama, are you going to come to the meet tomorrow? I mean you've never missed one…well except the last one we had, but to be fair you were in a coma so I don't really count that one." Parker looked at me hopefully and soon after Kacey looked over at me with the same expression, "Please mama, I'm swimming too."

I smiled at the two, feeling good for being wanted at these kind of things so bad. "Of course, I'd love to come."

Both girls smiled widely before returning their attention back to the TV screen in front of them as they whispered comments about the program to each other as they watched on. I still couldn't believe that this is what my life was like, it all seemed so perfect. I had the love of my life next to me and three beautiful girls who may not have been perfect but they seemed to be everything I wanted them to be so far.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I felt warm lips kiss lightly just behind my ear before I heard Paige whisper, "What're you thinking about?" My eyes closed slowly as hot breath hit my ear and I felt her lips run gently over the bottom of my ear as she spoke gently.

I turned slowly to look up at her, "Just about my seemingly perfect life and family." She smiled down at me and I leaned up to leave a small kiss on her lips.

"Mmm, perfect huh?" She asked with a small smirk.

"Perfect" I whispered back before closing the distance between us once more, however right before our lips pressed together I heard Paige let out a small grunt as her body was forced away from mine.

I opened my eyes to find a smiling Taylor climbing all over Paige, "See what I mean Em, no privacy." I giggled as Paige teased.

"Well considering you guys were about to make out in the middle of a full living room, I think that one's your guys' own fault." Parker stated truthfully as I scooted over so Taylor could sink down in between us.

"Well we pay the bills so we can make out whenever and wherever we want." Paige said as she stuck her tongue out at the two girls.

"That can't be your reasoning for everything mom." Kacey said with a chuckle.

"Well you don't pay the bills so you don't get a say." Paige responded with a shrug. Parker laughed as she turned to Kacey, "And you stand corrected."

"Okay since Taylor's back, I guess that means it's really time for me to go." I lazily pulled myself up off the couch before just about everyone else followed.

"Taylor stood up on the couch behind me and threw her arms around my shoulders, squeezing me in the best hug she could. I turned around and lifted her up off the couch hugging her back gently before she spoke into my shoulder, "Love you mama. Are you going to come back tomorrow?"

I pulled back a little so I could look at her, "Yeah I'll be at your sister's swim meet so I'll see you there alright." Taylor nodded excitedly and kissed me on the cheek as I set her back down on the ground.

"Bye mama." Both girls said at the same time as they each stood up to give me a quick hug. "See you at the pool tomorrow, 5 o'clock sharp okay?" Parker said before throwing herself back down onto the couch along with Kacey.

"I'll be there." I said as I started making my way towards the door, turning back and giving everyone a small wave before Paige and me made our way out the door and to the car.

"So what'd you think? They're pretty great right?" Paige said as she pulled out onto the road to begin the short drive over to my parent's house.

"Amazing. I can't believe I forgot any of them. I mean how is it possible to forget a family like that?" I asked mostly to myself rather than to Paige. It still didn't make sense to me how my memory could just be gone like that.

"So being back in the house didn't help you recall anything at all?" Paige asked lowly as she quickly glanced over to me and then back to the road.

I shook my head, "Nothing. I'm trying, but its just me trying to remember something that's not there. I'm sorry it just seems impossible to remember something that has never happened in your head."

"No don't be sorry, I mean it's not like I was expecting for you to hang out with us for a couple of hours and have everything come flooding back, but it's hard not to get your hope up a little, you know."

I answered with a small nod although she wasn't looking at me. "Parker and Kacey are starting to get worried that it's not coming back." It was quiet for a few minutes before Paige's voice filled the car again, "I keep trying to convince them that everything's going to be okay and that we're all going to be alright whether it does or not."

I moved my eyes over to her, "Do you think it's going to come back?" I asked curiously as we pulled up to my parent's house.

Paige shrugged before looking up at me, meeting my eyes, "I don't know Em." She rubbed at her eyes before she moved them to her lap, "I try to stay positive or whatever but it's hard. I mean I have three girls asking me every night what's going to happen if your memory doesn't come back and how bad they want it to so things can go back to normal and it's just hard."

She looked at me and I could see the tears starting to fall from her eyes as she continued, "It's not your fault by any means, but I'm not used to this. You usually deal with the feelings and you're better at the encouraging everything's going to be okay speeches, I hardly can pull myself together long enough to reassure them that it is going to be okay, but I don't even know if it is."

I sighed before getting out of the car and made my way to the driver's side door. I opened the door and pulled a crying Paige into my body as best I could from outside of the car. I rubbed my hand through her hair and down to her back in an attempt to sooth her. After a while she calmed down and I pulled away slightly, my arms still loosely resting on her body.

"Maybe I should just come back home and help you out. I don't know what's going to happen either Paige, but we'll get through it and the girl's will be fine, alright. Whether my memory comes back or not I'm not going anywhere I'll just have a lot of catching up to do, that's all. Look how well dinner went. We were fine and everyone acted like they were okay with me not being able to remember things, it'll be fun learning everything about them again, recalling all the memories and stuff. We'll be alright." I pulled my arms from around her and wiped the tears that had just stopped minutes before.

"You want to come home?" Paige asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah I do. I think I over reacted a little bit the other day. I don't know I just panicked but honestly it just seems to be upsetting everyone and you seem like you're on the verge of some type of nervous breakdown and we both can't be a mess babe." I couldn't help but smile a little when a smile appeared on Paige's face, who nodded in agreement allowing me to go on.

"What about tomorrow when I come to the meet I'll bring the couple of things you packed for me while I stayed here and after the meet I'll just go home with you guys. I'll let my parents know in the morning that I'm going to be going home and we'll try to work some stuff out and try to get things back to normal."

"I think the girls would really like that." Paige said and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Just the girls?"

Paige let out a small chuckle before she pulled me down into a brief kiss, "I would really like that too." She quickly stated in a whisper as she pulled me back in, this time in a deeper kiss. I pushed her shoulders back slightly allowing myself to pull away, "I'm not making out with you in my parent's driveway."

Paige frowned instantly, "Why not?" She asked in a whine before smirking at me, "It's not like it would be the first time." She grabbed my waist and pulled me as close to herself as she could while I was standing outside of the car.

I laughed as I pushed her away again, "That was in high school and we didn't have much of a choice. It was either make out in the car or don't do it at all."

"That sounds a lot like our current situation." She said again trying to get me to give in.

"You can wait a day," I leaned in to kiss her cheek before moving up to her ear and suggestively whispering, "You'll have me all night tomorrow."

I could hear Paige gulp as I removed myself from her arms and made my way to the front door, "Goodnight babe, I'll see you tomorrow." I said as I turned back to still see flustered Paige who offered a small wave and a simple 'can't wait'.

I walked into the house quietly and made my way up to the guestroom. I sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back resting on my elbows. Tomorrow I was going to go back home to my family and I was actually really excited. I had a lot of fun with them tonight and I couldn't wait to fix everything and have things return to normal.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:**

 **So so sorry for the long wait. Thank you for being patient or at least pretending to be. Hope it's worth it, I kind of rushed it a little to get it up today so sorry for any mistakes. Thank again for reading, hope you enjoy!**

 **[Emily's POV]**

I woke up early this morning and finished packing up the few things that I had at my parent's house. I made my way downstairs with my bag and dropped it at the bottom of the stairs before heading to the kitchen to where I knew my mom would be. I turned the corner and found her sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, "Morning mom."

"Morning honey." She responded as I poured myself a cup of coffee before joining her. "How was dinner last night? Must have gone well considering you were out pretty late."

I nodded my head, "Yeah, it went really well. The girls are doing okay with everything and they all did their best to act normal around me. I know it must be hard for them but they made sure I was comfortable. They actually made me feel so comfortable that I'm going to go back and stay with them."

My mom looked up from the paper she was reading with a small smile, "That's wonderful Emily. The girls must be happy that they're finally going to have you back. Especially Paige, we all know what a handful those kids can be." She let out a small laugh as she shook her head.

"So I've heard. Apparently I'm the source of authority in the household." I stated.

"Paige is kind of a big kid herself, she would rather participate in the antics than punish them for taking part. Those kids really did a number on her," my mom held in a laugh as she continued, "you both are wrapped around their fingers but Paige can't bring herself to discipline any of them for the life of her. In her defense though you always did it so she never felt like she had to."

"They told me a few stories and apparently I can be a little tough on them." I said recalling how far I went with the one punishment of Parker's that I knew of.

"I guess you can be tough on them, but someone has to be." I wasn't sure why but I felt bad about doing that to the young girl even though I couldn't remember it. I mean I didn't necessarily disagree with it but it was just hard for me to imagine myself like that. My mom must have picked up on my guilt as she continued, "Honey sometimes being a parent is hard. You have to put your kids in their place when they step out of line, even when you don't want to and even though it's hard you have to do it sometimes. It's what's best for them."

"Hell even Paige has yelled at them once or twice." she added.

"Really?" I asked with a smile on my face as I tried to imagine Paige being able to bring herself to yell at any of the girls.

My mom simply nodded, "Of course, every parent has to at some point Emily. Although I'm pretty sure she won't yell at any of them for a long while again."

I raised my eyebrows at her in question, "why is that?"

She smiled at me before laughing a little, "Kacey burst into tears right in the middle of Paige chewing her out for something. Paige stopped mid-sentence looking like a deer caught in the headlights."

I laughed as the scene played out in my head, "She apologized didn't she?" I didn't even need to ask. I knew how much Paige hated confrontation and I knew from past fights that we had that she hated making a Fields cry in any situation.

"Of course she did. And then you yelled at her for giving in so easily all of the time and then I'm pretty sure she nearly cried." We both laughed as my mom wrapped up the memory.

"It's pretty obvious that they have her in the palm of their hands. I got my first look at that last night," I nodded remembering how she acted around the girls last night, "but I think it's sweet that she love them so much. We seem like a really close family."

She gave me a firm nod once again, "That you are. You guys did a great job raising them and I'm very proud of you Emily. Really, of both of you and all of the kids. Your father too, hell even Nick had to admit that you two did amazing with them."

I felt the mood shift slightly as my mom brought up Nick. Paige was right, I had never really warmed up to her father completely. I wasn't sure what had happened between the two of us over the last seventeen years or so but from what I can remember, even by the time Paige and I had gotten married he still didn't agree with our relationship. It was something that he always struggled with, of course Paige was also right that he was respectful enough to never say anything to our faces but it didn't make me like the guy anymore.

"Paige told me that he had gotten better when the kids came." I said not sure if now was the right time to have this conversation but I thought that it had to happen sooner or later so why not.

"He has. I know that you can't remember him coming around but he did. It's not perfect, he still has his moments but he's accepted it as what it is and he loves all of you very much." I could tell by her tone that she knew the questions about her fully coming around to accept me were coming.

"Paige also said that we worked out some stuff too." I originally wanted it to come out firm and confident but for some reason it came out as a small whisper.

I felt like a teenager again sitting at this table with my mom. Having these conversation about whether it was a phase or not. Whether I was just confused or her asking my dad where she went wrong with me. I knew she apologized for all of it long ago but it was always something that was hard for me to forget.

I loved my mom. I always had and I never tried to hold her original thoughts about myself being gay against her, but sometimes I just couldn't forget about it. She hesitated slightly opening her mouth before closing it once again, obviously trying to figure out what to say to me.

"We did. Quite some time ago Emily." She sighed before looking at me for the first time since the conversation shifted. "I know you can't remember us doing that but it was good, we needed it. This whole thing that happened between us when I first found out about you being gay was hard on the both of us and I realize that it was wrong for me to act the way that I did."

I avoided her gaze until I felt her hand reach out and cover mine. I looked up at her as she continued, "And I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize that there's nothing wrong with you being gay. I can't change how I acted in the past but I haven't acted that way in a long time honey. You have everything that I ever hoped for you. You have a beautiful family and you are married to a wonderful woman who treats you better than anyone that I could have imagined that you'd end up with. I just want you to be happy and at first I didn't understand all of this but a long time ago I finally figured it out."

I knew that my mom always just wanted the best for me and I knew that she didn't think that me being gay was the ideal. I figured that our conversation that apparently resolved everything between us was similar to this, maybe a little more in depth but it's not like I wanted much from her. All I wanted from her was to be sincerely okay with what she used to refer to as my "lifestyle choices" which long ago weren't accepted by her.

"If I never married Paige and we never had kids would you have still been okay with me being gay?" Since I wasn't sure what changed her mind about my "choices" I decided to ask since Paige said something about Nick's feelings changing once the kids started being born, so I wondered if that was the only reason my mom came around.

"Of course Emily," She said with a firm nod, "I know that you may not understand why I acted the way I did. I don't always fully understand why I acted that way myself, but Emily I have always loved you and wanted the best for you and like I said, somewhere along the way I just realized that the best thing for you personally was Paige. Or some other woman that you would've fallen in love with if it hadn't have worked out with Paige." She finally released my hand and stood up with her empty coffee cup taking it to the sink.

"Emily I'm not perfect, but I love you. I love you so much. And I don't care who you love as long as you're happy and I see how happy you are with Paige and honestly I don't know how I didn't see it sooner. I was just so stuck in what I believed was right for you, but I was wrong and I don't believe that who you are as a person is wrong. And again I'm so sorry honey that it took me so long to see that." I knew she was being sincere as she barely choked out the last couple sentences as tears freely fell from her eyes.

I stood up and made my way to my mother who was leaning over the sink trying to hide the fact that she was getting so emotional. I wrapped my arms around her as she turned around to face me. We stood there for a while in silence as we hugged each other tightly.

After a couple minutes we pulled away from each other and my mother shook her head with a heavy sigh, "Well that wasn't the morning I had expected."

I let out a small laugh as I shook my head, "No me either, but I'm glad it came up." My mom simply smiled at me and nodded her head. "You know mom, Paige says I forgave you a long time ago."

"I know Emily, it's just that you don't remember and it's always a hard conversation to have. I never should have treated you that way and I'm ashamed that I ever did. You're my daughter and it shouldn't have taken me so long to come around."

I shrugged, "The important thing is that you did. And that's all I ever wanted mom. I just wanted you to realize that these weren't choices that I made, it's just always been who I am. And I think you finally get that and whether it took me marrying Paige or us having kids to figure it out, I don't care, I'm just glad that it happened."

"Me too. Although I wish it would've happened sooner, but I'm proud of you Emily, I always have been and I love you so much." She made her way over to me again and pulled me in for another hug, "I love you too mom."

We pulled away yet again and my mother grabbed my cup off the table and put it in the sink before speaking again, "So when are you going to head over to your house, or is Paige picking you up later?"

"I'm actually just going to take my stuff with me to the girls swim meet today and then go home with them after that. But I think I'm going to head over to the school in a little bit to see if I can catch the girls before the meet."

My mom nodded as I stood in the entrance of the kitchen, "Alright well I guess I'll see you there then. Do you want to take the car?"

"Oh no that's fine, I think I'm just going to walk so I can eat up a little more time before I get there. Thank you for letting me stay here while I sorted things out though."

"You know you are always welcome here Emily. Whatever you need." I nodded and thanked her once more before leaving the kitchen and grabbing my bag as I headed out the front door and started my walk to the school.

 **[Paige's POV]**

"Alright guys make sure you finish the reading over the weekend for the test on Monday." I reminded them as the last couple of seconds of class approached. The class filled with expected groans, "Seriously guys? This is health, it's one of the easiest classes in the entire school." I said before the bell rang and the students began to make their way out the door in a hurry. "Have a good weekend."

I went behind my desk and began to gather my things before I headed to my office in the girls locker room. I was just about to leave the room when Kacey came walking in, "Hey mom."

"Hey kiddo what's up?" I asked as we started walking over to the locker room together now that school was out and having the meet in a couple of hours.

"Have you heard from Parker today?" She asked as she looked up at me.

I shook my head, "No why did something happen? I swear if that girl got into any more trouble-"

Kacey cut me off quickly, "She hurt her side in P.E. playing field hockey. I ran into her at lunch and she was pretty banged up, I wasn't supposed to say anything but it looked kind of bad."

I opened the door to the locker rooms as we reached it and stepped aside waiting for Kacey to enter before I followed, "Do you know where she's at?"

The younger girl shook her head, "Last I saw her was at lunch but I figured she'd show up here once she was out of class."

"Yeah she'll show up here soon. Thanks for letting me know, are you sticking around here until the meet." I asked as we entered my office.

"No I'm going to go grab something to eat with Megan real quick and then I'll be back. Shouldn't be more than an hour." I nodded before she left the office.

Parker tended to push herself a lot. Swimming was important to her and she rarely missed a meet for anything. If she was hurt you wouldn't know unless someone else ratted her out like Kacey just did. She pushed through and sometimes she went a little too far. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard the door open and then someone opening their locker.

I stood up knowing it was Parker because she was always the first one here for the meet. She usually came right after class and it usually didn't even take her this long to get in here and class only ended about ten minutes ago. I walked over to where her locker was and turned the corner seeing Parker messing with something in her hand, "Watcha got there Park?"

Parker, who clearly thought she was alone in here, jumped and fumbled with whatever was in her hands when my voice echoed through the empty locker room, "Jesus mom, a warning would be nice."

She quickly tossed whatever was in her hand into the locker as she faced me, "Your sister came by to see me after school, she told me that she heard you had a little incident in P.E."

Parker shook her head, "I'd barely call it an incident. I was the victim to a cheap shot during a field hockey game but no big, I'm fine."

I nodded, "Where'd you get hit?" I asked knowing that she was going to try to lie her way out of anything, whether it was a minor injury or if she had really gotten hit as hard as Kacey made it seem.

"Does it matter? Really I'm fine, hardly anything to worry about mom." I walked closer to her locker so I could see what she tossed in there when I first walked over but Parker slid over to block my view.

"Really Parker, we're going to do this?" Parker shrugged as I stood in front of her, "Do what, I'm just trying to get ready for the meet, so."

"Kacey said you were banged up. Those are her exact words Parker, so something happened to you and the fact that you're beating around the bush with me right now proves that it's more than nothing. So why don't you just show me what happened and then I'll leave you alone and you can get ready for the meet." I crossed my arms over my chest as I waited for her response.

"Fine, but don't freak out mom. I'm serious it looks worse than it is okay?" I nodded as I watched her as she struggled to timidly remove her shirt. I could see her face scrunch in pain as she finally was able to lift it off over her head. She looked up at me as she showed me her exposed side.

"Jesus Christ Parker, what the hell is that?! That looks like a pretty aggressive cheap shot." I stated as I studied the huge bruise that settled on most of her left side. It was already black and the skin looked a bit swollen around her rib cage. I reached out and lightly brushed my fingers across it but Parker swatted my hand away and jumped away from me immediately.

I looked up at her with slightly wide eyes as I put my hands up, "Sorry." I took the opportunity of Parker leaving from the entrance of her locker to glance inside. I immediately caught site of the small baggy that she must have tossed in when I came over. I went in to reach it before Parker grabbed my arm quickly, "Don't those are mine. They're just for my side, some Advil to help ease the pain."

I looked up at her. She seemed slightly panicked and I could tell that whatever was in the bag she wasn't supposed to have them. I shook her arm off of me and grabbed the baggy from the locker. I heard Parker sigh as she stepped away from the locker and looked at the ground.

The baggy was a little smaller than my palm and I already knew what I was going to find inside, but I opened it up and dumped the contents into my other hand. Two large white pills rested in my hand as I looked over at Parker who was leaning against the locker across from hers, "There just painkillers mom. I didn't think I would be able to swim very well without them."

"I'm sorry, have you swam on painkillers before?" I asked not sure, but her casual attitude led me to believe that this wasn't a new thing.

Parker shook her head no as a response. "Where'd you get these?" She stood in silence for a second before shrugging. "Interesting they just showed up in your pocket or what? Parker this isn't Advil, this is a prescribed drug."

"Look I know okay. I needed something stronger mom. I need to swim really good at today's meet. It's the most important meet of the season I can't mess up, you know that!" I was getting frustrated and I was mad that she was starting to raise her tone at me.

"So you went and bought drugs Parker! What the hell is wrong with you, you're aware that's illegal right?!" Parker was about to respond when the locker room door opened and someone walked in. I was about to tell her to follow me into my office so we could finish talking about this when Emily peaked her head around the corner of the lockers.

"Bad time?" Emily asked a little wary. I looked over at Parker whose eyes had gone wide as she threw her t-shirt on as fast as she could with her injured side.

"Nope I was just headed out to find Kacey, I have a few choice words for her." Parker said as she tried to hurry out of the locker room. I grabbed her arm and yanked her back into her previous spot, as she winced from the tug that probably stretched her side. Parker groaned reaching down to rest her hand over her injury.

"What's going on in here?" Emily asked as she walked over to Parker, unaware of the current situation. She gently pulled Parker's hand away from her side before Emily slowly lifted the girl's shirt to see what she was groaning at.

"Parker, what happened to you?" She asked as she carefully inspected the growing mark on Parker's side.

Parker sighed, "This girl hit me with her field hockey stick during P.E. It's not a big deal, but apparently mom thinks otherwise." Emily looked over to me with a questioning glance as she let go of Parker's t-shirt.

"Our daughter thought the answer to all her problems was to go out and buy drugs." I said as I held out the pills to show Emily who took them from my hand now inspecting the pills. Parker rolled her eyes at my statement.

"Parker?" Emily simply said waiting to hear Parker's side.

"It's just so I can get through the meet. I have to swim good today mama, it's a big meet. I can't lose, I can't!" Parker looked desperate but Emily never would be okay with this. I mean the old Emily would never allow this to happen, Emily who didn't remember she had kids well I wasn't sure how that Emily was going to take this.

"Well it doesn't look bad enough for you to have cracked a rib or anything like that. Does it hurt when you twist or fully extend your arms above your head?" Emily asked extremely calmly.

Parker winced a little as she twisted her torso back and forth not really being able to do it quickly. Next she extended her arms fully above her head but she seemed to struggle quite a bit with it and couldn't seem to hold it very long before she groaned in pain. Emily nodded at the young girl while she thought.

"Okay so definitely not broken, it's probably just going to be really sore for a couple of days. Mostly just tender to the touch and when you stretch that side of your body." Parker nodded in response before Emily pocketed the painkillers. "You shouldn't swim on painkillers though, especially if you've never taken them and they aren't prescribed to you. Trust me I know."

Parker nodded, "Are you sure I can't just take one of those, I mean what's the worst that can happen. How am I supposed to swim good when I can barely stretch out my arm?"

Me and Emily both shook our heads, "You're not taking pills you bought off of some kid at school Parker." I said still a little upset. Emily dug around in her bag before pulling out a small bottle of pills, "Here take one of these, it's not much stronger than an off the shelf pain reliever but it'll help a little bit more."

Parker grabbed the pill from Emily's hand and grabbed a water bottle out of her locker before quickly taking it, "Thanks mama."

Emily nodded before turning to face me, "She should be able to swim fine on it. Of course her times won't be her best but it should work long enough for her to keep close enough for today."

I sighed before nodding, "Fine but Parker seriously this stuff has to stop. I know swimming is important to you but there's a line Parker and this kind of stuff isn't going to be tolerated."

Parker nodded silently before I turned and headed off to my office with Emily following behind. I held the door open waiting for her to walk through the door and then closed it behind me, "So what brings you here so early, the meet doesn't start for a while."

"I know I just thought I'd come early and hang out for a little. It's not like I had anything else to do." I nodded before sitting at my desk and typing up the lineups on the computer. Emily sat on the edge of my desk facing me.

"You decide your lineups a couple hours before the meet?" Emily asked as she craned her neck to peak at what I was doing on the computer.

"Not usually but I just want to make a quick change to the relay and take Parker out of some of her races." I knew that what I was doing was going to cause a big problem, but I feel like I needed to make a statement as a parent and there was no way that Parker could swim practically every race like she usually did.

"Paige are you sure that's what you want to do? I don't know your team very well but I would bet money that Parker can outswim most of these girls. This is also a pretty big meet, I'm not sure it's the best time to play around and prove a point." I looked over at Emily a little frustrated.

"We don't even know if she can swim yet. And if she can we don't want to push her." Emily shook her head.

"You know that girl is going to find a way to win if it kills her. I know you're mad at her but is this really the best way to go." I knew she was probably right, once Parker found out that I was completely removing her from the relay race and a few of her other races she was going to flip out, but I didn't care right now. Right now I was concerned that my daughter was willing to go to extreme lengths to win and I didn't like it so if she wasn't going to take it easy, then I was going to make that decision for her.

"She needs to relax Emily and if this is the only way I can get her to do that then I'm going to do it." I grabbed the new lineup and walked out to the pool door entrance and taped it to the back before returning to Emily.

"Why do I feel like I picked the worst day ever to move back into our house?" I couldn't help but laugh knowing that the remaining hours of the day were going to be hell.

"If you're in my shoes you couldn't have picked a better one. I'm bad at this stuff, I already want to put her back into everything she usually swims just thinking about how upset she's going to be."

Emily eyed me, "Then why did you take her out in the first place?"

"Because it's what I'd do if I caught any other girl on this team with illegally purchased painkillers and an injury like that. It's just something that I feel I needed to do, I don't know maybe it's a terrible decision but it's fair." I shrugged and Emily stood up in front of me wrapping her arms around my neck.

"If you think so." She said before briefly kissing me. "Hey why do you think that someone hit Parker during P.E.? That bruise is huge, I don't think that you can hit someone that hard on accident."

I nodded knowing that Emily didn't know much about the kid's lives, "There are a couple girls around here that really mess with her. Parker doesn't like to talk about it so I don't know much but she gets into a lot of trouble when it comes to them. So does Kacey."

"I thought you said nobody messed with Parker or Kacey because Parker was a solid fighter?" I nodded because that was usually the case.

"For some reason Parker never fights back. I have no idea why. I've tried to get it out of Kacey but her lips are sealed when it comes to it. Nobody can figure it out and nobody will say anything about it." I could see the confusion on her face but she nodded anyway as if she understood.

I heard a locker slam shut loudly followed by loud screaming. Emily and I both jumped apart and made our way back to the voices that were all too familiar. I turned into the rows of lockers to find Parker and Kacey in one of their screaming matches. I quickly made my way to Parker and grabbed her from behind as Emily made her way to Kacey and tried to calm the girl down.

"What's going on guys?" I asked not really needing to but what else are you supposed to say when you're breaking up a fight between your kids.

Parker tried to pull out of my grip as she yelled a response in Kacey's direction, "This one doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut!"

Kacey fought against Emily as she yelled back, "Well maybe if you weren't so stupid then I wouldn't have to keep my mouth shut in the first place!"

"I'm not stupid! Let me go!" Parker struggled in my arms but rather quickly wiggled her way out of my grip. She immediately stormed off in the opposite direction of Kacey which I was happy about because I didn't want things to get physical, not that they ever had. Kacey immediately calmed down when Parker was out of sight and Emily released the previous grip that she had on the younger girl.

I then remembered the list hanging on the door of the pool entrance and figured that it caught Parker's attention when I didn't hear the door open or close. I made my way to the door and saw Parker stopped dead in her tracks. "Parker?"

She turned around and stormed past me making her way back towards her locker, I quickly followed knowing who she was headed for. "Parker!" I called after her as I reached her right before she turned into the row of lockers where her sister was, I grabbed her again from behind before she could get any closer, "Parker calm down."

I was surprised when she didn't fight my grip but by the look on Kacey's face and the way Emily slid her body in front of Kacey's I could tell that Parker must have been throwing a look that could kill in Kacey's general direction, "Happy? You finally got that anchor spot you always wanted."

"Anchor spot?" Kacey's eyes looked to me to confirm what Parker said, I nodded my head. "Parker you're hurt you can't swim in every race today. You're just going to hurt yourself more and this isn't the last meet of the season, you can't just go all out today and then not be able to race in the next meets."

"Are you kidding me?! That's what you're going with, it's because I'm hurt? I could saw both of my feet off right now and still outswim some of the girls who are in the relay and you know it!" Now Parker's anger was directed at me as she turned away from Kacey and was face to face with me. She was right she could outswim those girls on a bad day but I wasn't going to change my mind.

"Look Parker that's the lineup for today, you need to take it easy and that's just how it is. You can swim in the first two races but that's it, I'm not going to push you that hard when you can barely twist your body. You're just going to make your side worse and there's no point."

"There are scouts coming to watch me mom! You know how important this is to me!" I didn't know what to say to her and I was starting to crack so I was glad when Emily walked up behind Parker and grabbed her shoulders, "Come on honey lets go see how you feel once you get in the pool okay? You need to settle down."

Parker resisted at first as she continued to stare at me intently before finally giving into Emily and walking out to the pool with her. I sighed heavily before turning to face the locker and slowly began to bang my head against the locker.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I followed behind Parker as she stormed towards the pool. She walked to the back wall and stripped off her sweats and jacket before quickly pulling on her cap and goggles. She quickly made her way to the starting block and got into position.

"Don't you want to stretch or warm up a little first, that side's going to be pretty tight?" I suggested as Parker turned to look at me.

She shook her head, "I already stretched as best I could in the locker room." She returned her gaze to the pool and bent down into her stance. I could tell she was already struggling when she reached her arms out to complete her form, which due to the lack of extension her side allowed her with her fresh injury, was terrible.

None the less she launched herself into the pool and began a freestyle lap. She returned to the wall at a decent pace but I knew that she was nowhere near her personal best. She popped her head out of the water and grabbed the wall for support. I walked over to her and bent down to help her out of the pool.

"How'd it feel?" I asked as she sat on the edge of the pool and I joined her sitting cross legged next to her.

The girl next to me shrugged, "Not great. Not terrible." She sighed as I nodded my head. "I think the pill you gave me is starting to kick in though, it doesn't hurt as bad as it did earlier."

"That's good, but your mom's right you still shouldn't overdo it Parker." I said trying to get through to the seemingly stubborn girl. She simply nodded before a couple of girls on the team, including Kacey, started to shuffle into the pool area. I stood up and offered my hand down to Parker, "Come on lets go sit in the bleachers for a little and let you rest before you have to start doing warm ups for the meet."

Parker nodded before I pulled her up off the ground and we walked over and sat down on the bottom row, "So you want to tell me why someone beat you with a field hockey stick during P.E. or?"

Parker let out a small laugh, "She didn't beat me with her field hockey stick, she just hit me once. It's just what she does. You know that."

"No, I have no idea. Have we talked about her before?" I asked a little lost.

Parker let out another laugh, "Oh sorry mama, I completely forgot that you don't remember anything." She teased. I nudged her with my elbow as a small smile crept on my lips.

"I can remember some stuff…just nothing that really occurred like a year after I graduated from college." Parker continued to laugh.

"So you don't remember my tattoo then, well that's good you were livid over that one." My mouth dropped open a little and my eyes widened before Parker grabbed her stomach and began to laugh hysterically.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I would never, oh my god I don't even want to know what you would do to me," She sighed as we both brought our soft laughs to an end, "Man this could actually be fun. I finally can mess with you a little bit and you legit don't know if I'm doing it."

"Hey don't mess with your mother who has brain damage, that's terrible." I teased and Parker's smile dropped a little as her face scrunched up in thought.

"Well when you say it like that it doesn't sound as fun, way to be a downer." Parker teased back.

"Oh my apologies miss, please take full advantage of me." Parker giggled and I smiled down at her as she watched the other girls swim, "Feeling a little better?" I questioned hoping I helped get her mind off of the meet.

She nodded before turning her gaze to me, "Thanks mama. I know it's stupid to act like a baby when you don't get your way, but it's just important to me and I don't know I just can't help it sometimes, I can get a little dramatic."

I threw my arm over her shoulders gently and pulled her into my side a little bit, "It's okay sweetheart, I've been there before. Why don't you go start getting ready, so you can show me what you got when the meet starts? Rumor is you're almost as good as me, but I mean I don't know if I believe it yet. I am a champion after all." I shrugged as I tried to keep the smile off my face.

Parker rolled her eyes as her lips tugged up in a smile and she stood up, "You're lucky I got hurt, I was on track to beat your record today."

"Mhm, whatever you say kid." I teased as she walked over to the other girls.

I felt better knowing that Parker felt a little better and that I could help her feel that way. I wasn't used to being a parent but I thought I was doing okay so far. Although Parker felt better I could see that Kacey wasn't doing very good as her eyes sadly followed Parker around. I could tell she felt bad about tattling on Parker's injury and it was clear that Parker was avoiding being near the younger girl.

At this point the other team had arrived and parents began shuffling in to fill the bleachers. I was still watching the swimmers from the bottom of the bleachers when I saw Taylor running into the room and my mother hustling to try to keep up with her. I smiled at the sight before Taylor caught my eye and launched herself at me.

"Hey mama!" She said happily as she wrapped her arms around my neck and climbed into my lap.

"Hi, you seem excited." She nodded her head enthusiastically as my mother took a seat next to me. "Hey mom." I smiled noticing the worn out look on her face, "Rough afternoon with the little one?"

She nodded at me slowly with a smile on her face, "She's got so much energy all the time. I'm getting to old to keep up with her."

I laughed a little as I wrapped my arms around the little girl's waist as she got comfortable on my lap and the meet got ready to start.

Parker swam in the first two races and somehow managed to win both by a decent margin. Of course her times were well off her personal bests but she looked pleased with herself by just winning the races. I could tell she wasn't used to sitting around for most of the meet as she watched on from the bench, as her legs bounced and she fidgeted with her hands.

As the meet about wrapped up the last race was the relay and my mom leaned over to ask, "Why isn't Parker swimming?" once Kacey climbed up on the starting block instead of Parker for the final lap.

"Parker got hurt in P.E. so Paige wanted her to take it easy today." I said as my eyes never left the pool. Kacey dove in as the girl before her hit the wall.

"Oh boy how'd that go?" She asked and it must have not been news to anyone that Parker hated not being able to participate like she usually did and would take it bad.

"Not great." I responded as Kacey finished up the race slightly before the girl next to her. She pulled herself out of the pool with a big smile on her face as the other team members greeted her with hugs and pats on the back.

As the meet finished up and the girls made their way to the locker rooms we stood up and walked out of the pool area and waited for the girls and Paige outside where the other parents were. After a while team members started to make their way out and Parker was the first one of ours to emerge from the doors.

She walked over to us and hugged my mom first, "Hey grandma." My mom released her from the hug and looked up at her, "You did good honey, how's your side, your mother told me what happened."

"It's fine. A little sore but not too bad. Should be fine by the next meet." My mom nodded before Parker looked over at me, "I guess blowing your record out of the water will have to wait until the next meet." She said with a teasing smirk.

"I don't know if you could blow it out of the water but whatever you say superstar." I smiled at her as she cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at me in question, a wide smile spreading across her face, "What?" I asked not sure what I said.

"You called me superstar." I shrugged not sure what that was supposed to mean.

"I'm sorry I don't know why I said that, it kind of just came out. Is there something wrong with me calling you that or something?" I asked not sure why she said anything about it in the first place.

Parker shook her head, "You used to all me that all the time, you know before the accident. I just haven't heard it in a while that's all." She smiled at me and I smiled back before Kacey cautiously approached us.

Like Parker she hugged my mother first before turning her attention towards me, "You did so good Kacey." I said as the girl smiled shyly at me.

"Thanks mama." She said as I pulled her in for a hug.

When I pulled away I saw her glance over at Parker who's attention was now fully on Taylor as they joked around a few feet away from us. "You aright?" I asked pulling her eyes off the older girl.

"Yeah I'm fine." She simply replied. I nodded unsurely as Paige walked over to us.

"Hey you guys ready to go?" She asked as she put her arm around my shoulder. Everyone nodded and said their goodbyes to my mother before we started walking to the car.

"Wait is mama coming home with us?" Kacey noticed that I wasn't headed in the direction of my mother's car but rather theirs and I had a bag with me.

I nodded as I watched smiles form onto everyone's face, "I think it's time I come home, don't you guys?"

I smiled as all three girls said some form of yes simultaneously. I was happy to be going home but the silenced filled car ride home was making me a little nervous. Parker and Kacey both had their eyes looking outside of the windows on opposite ends of the back seat with Taylor sitting between them, separating the two. As soon as we pulled into the driveway and the car stopped both girls quickly grabbed their bags and made their way into the house without a word. I looked over at Paige who sighed heavily. This was going to be a long night.


	11. Chapter 11

**[Emily's POV]**

Paige followed the girls into the house quickly to make sure everything was fine. I helped Taylor grab her bag out of the back along with mine before walking into the house with her. Thankfully the house was quiet so I assumed nothing was going on between the two girls yet.

Paige came trotting down the stairs almost immediately after we walked into the house, "Tay why don't you go put your bag in your room."

Taylor nodded and quickly made her way up the stairs, "Everything okay so far?" I asked a little nervous about what was in store for us tonight.

"So far I think I got it under control." Paige said but her unsure tone didn't make me feel much better about the situation. I followed Paige into the kitchen as she continued speaking, "You think we can just get a pizza delivered or something? I doubt we're going to be able to get everyone at the dinner table anyways tonight so what's the point."

I nodded, "Yeah that's fine." I sat down at the table while Paige grabbed the phone to order the pizza.

Just as I was sitting down Parker walked into the kitchen and headed straight to the freezer to grab an icepack. She was just wearing a sports bra and a pair of loose shorts which allowed you to see the worsening bruise on her side clearly. She took the icepack and left the room quickly without a word.

I stood up and headed in the direction she went to find her laying on the couch with the icepack slapped onto her side, flipping through the channels. "Looks pretty nasty." I said as I gestured to her side.

"Well for how bad it hurts it better." She responded never taking her eyes off the TV.

"I'm guessing the pill finally wore off." Parker simply nodded as Kacey and Taylor both came walking down the stairs. Kacey seeing that Parker had already claimed the living room turned into the kitchen while Taylor walked over to the couch and sat down by Parkers feet.

"What's wrong with Kacey?" Taylor asked to no one in particular.

I looked at Parker waiting for her to answer but after a moment of silence I decided to, "Nothing. What makes you think something's wrong with her?"

Taylor turned her head to look up at me and shrugged before looking back at Parker. The little girl stood up on the couch and brought her head close to my ear, "Are they fighting?" She tried to whisper, but wasn't very successful.

I laughed a little at the young girls attempt at a whisper before nodding my head slightly. The little girl plopped down on the couch with a small grunt, "Aww man."

I looked over at Parker who was trying to fight a smile from the little girl's actions. I turned my attention back to the kitchen and made my way over there when Kacey never reemerged. I walked in to find Kacey sitting on the counter across from Paige as they spoke.

As soon as I walked in Paige's attention turned to me as well as Kacey's and the conversation quickly stopped, "What are we talking about?" I questioned cautiously as I made my way over to them.

"Kacey wants to go out but I don't think it's a good idea." Paige said as Kacey rolled her eyes before jumping down from the counter.

"Not a good idea!? You know what's not a good idea mom? For me to stay in this house with her." Kacey was whisper yelling clearly trying to avoid Parker over hearing the conversation.

"I don't understand why all of this is such a big deal in the first place." Paige stated not giving into Kacey's request to leave.

"This is so dumb, all I'm trying to do is not get killed in the middle of the night by my pissed off sister, but whatever if that's what you want fine." The young girl stormed out of the kitchen before anyone had a chance to respond.

I looked over at Paige who threw her head back in frustration, "Are they always this dramatic?" I asked, not knowing how the sweet, loving sisters who seemed extremely close could turn into moody enemies so quickly.

Paige shook her head, "Not usually but I don't know whatever's going on between them can't just be from Kacey telling me Parker got hit. Hopefully it'll just blow over quickly, they hardly ever really fight."

"Doesn't sound like it's going to." I said as I heard Kacey and Parker arguing already in the other room.

Paige and I both walked into the living room to find the two girls arguing. Parker was now off the couch and was standing a few feet away from Kacey as the younger girl yelled at her. They both had their eyes narrowed at each other and the two didn't seem like they had any interest in calling a truce.

"Seriously guys, we're not going to do this all night." Paige said trying to stay calm, however both girls ignored her as they kept arguing.

"I didn't even do anything!" Kacey yelled getting in Parker's face.

Parker scoffed and lightly shoved her sister away from her, "You know what you did Kacey, don't play dumb!" Parker tried to make her way past Kacey but Kacey stepped in front of her again blocking her path. "Kacey I swear if you don't get out of my face."

"I was just trying to look out for you and you know it! What's the big deal anyways, it's not like they did anything to you right! Oh wait yeah they did!" As Kacey let out the last couple of words she slapped her hand against the bruised skin on Parkers side which caused the older girl to wince away in pain.

"Kacey!" Paige immediately walked over and pulled Kacey away from Parker as the older girl regained her composure and looked up at Kacey with a clenched jaw.

Parker being built like Paige was a little bigger than Kacey was and if they were to fight it didn't look like she stood much of a chance against the older girl. Although Kacey was clearly scrappy, her older sister seemed to be the tougher of the two. I turned nervous when I saw Parker's fists closed tight at her sides as she took a step towards the younger girl.

"What the hell Kacey?!" Parker yelled and I had never been so happy to hear a doorbell ring as it drew everyone's attention away from the current situation occurring in the room.

"That's probably the pizza." Paige said to the full room, but Parker was still focused on Kacey, whose confidence seemed to be disappearing under her older sister's intense glare. Paige slowly moved away from Kacey, "Everyone just relax until I get the pizza alright. Neither of you do anything stupid."

As soon as Paige stepped away from Kacey and left the room I made sure to move my body between them to avoid the fight turning physical. Paige disappeared into the doorway, but thankfully came back quickly with two pizza boxes in her hands.

Paige glance at the two girls before speaking, "Alright here's the deal. Whoever wants something to eat can grab a couple slices and take it somewhere they can eat in peace. If you don't want to eat then fine don't but It's your mothers first night back and all I wanted was to come home have dinner and enjoy the first night I was going to have with her in a while. Since that's clearly not going to happen, I at least don't want anyone to do anything they're going to regret in the morning, so everyone just please go to bed before I have some sort of breakdown."

Paige walked to the kitchen and I waited for the girls to follow before I did to, not wanting to leave them alone together if they didn't want to eat. I walked into the kitchen to find Paige leaning over the counter, her elbows resting on the counter and her head in her hands. Parker and Kacey had already began to argue again but at least now they weren't screaming at each other. Now both of their attention was mainly focused on Paige which explained her current position.

"If you think I'm sleeping in the same room as crazy over here, you're wrong." Kacey said gesturing to her sister who was getting a couple plates out of the cupboards.

"Glad you agree. The couch is all yours kid." Parker responded casually as she set the plates next to the pizza box.

"Why do I have to sleep on the couch?!" Kacey questioned as she looked at Paige rather than Parker.

Parker was quick to respond even though the question wasn't directed at her, "Are you serious?! Well first off you're the one who's scared of me, rightfully so and plus I'm hurt and therefore am not sleeping on the couch. Tell her mom."

"They share a room?" I asked Paige as she peaked at me through her fingers, probably for a little help. She simply nodded and I sighed as everyone's attention suddenly turned to me. "I'm not sure what the sleeping arrangements usually are but tonight one of you can sleep in your room and the other can sleep with Taylor."

"No way!" Taylor shouted as Parker handed her a plate with a slice of pizza on it and she walked over to the table.

"I don't care where you put her but I'm sleeping in my bed so..." Parker said as she joined Taylor at the table.

"Yeah and I'm not sleeping with Taylor. Her bed is small and she kicks around in her sleep." Kacey said as she sat on the top of the counter and began to eat her pizza, not wanting to sit with Parker.

"Okay fine then, one of you can sleep in our room and one of us will sleep in your guy's room." I said trying to stop the fighting for the night but I seemed to upset Paige with my suggestion.

"What?! No way Em, I want to sleep with you. We had plans, remember." Paige said in disbelief.

I wanted nothing more than to spend the night with Paige but honestly right now I didn't feel like either of us were going to get through this night without separating the girls completely and trying to calm them down a little so they could work it out tomorrow.

Parker's voice was the first to break the silence nobody really sure what to do at this point, "Seriously mom, you basically just announced to the class that you and mama are going to have sex tonight so for that sole reason I second mama's suggestion that you two sleep in separate rooms."

"Great then it's settled I'll sleep with mama and you can sleep in my bed." Kacey said to Paige as she quickly finished her slice of pizza and set the plate in the sink.

"I definitely don't agree with this, why don't I have more power in this house?" Paige said while looking around the room.

"That's cause mama's got all the power." Taylor said with a mouth full of pizza causing everyone to giggle as Paige threw her hands up in frustration, "Whatever, yeah I guess that's fine for tonight, but you guys better have this shit figured out by tomorrow night."

"Paige, language." I said not wanting her to cuss in front of at least Taylor. I wasn't sure what our protocol for cussing was around the house but I didn't necessarily like it. Paige sighed and the two older girls laughed a little at her frustration before quickly finishing up their pizza and disappearing upstairs along with Taylor.

I walked over to Paige who was angrily eating a slice of pizza over the counter. I lightly placed my hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry I just didn't really know what else to do." Paige simply nodded before taking another bite of her pizza, "I'm new to this and don't really know what I'm doing at all, but I figured it was just for one night right? I'll make it up to you I promise."

Paige slowly turned around placing her hands on my hips and pulling me into her, "Oh yeah, how?" She said huskily as she leaned closer to me our lips slightly brushing together as she spoke.

"Hmm, not sure." I responded closing the practically nonexistent gap between us and kissing her softly.

I pushed our bodies closer together forcing Paige back lightly until she was backed up against the counter. Our lips moved in sync slowly and it didn't take long before I felt Paige's tongue run smoothly across my bottom lip. I opened my mouth slightly allowing her entrance as the kiss deepened quickly.

I ran my hand up the back of her neck and into her hair gripping it before pulling lightly. I felt Paige hands wonder under my shirt as she lightly moaned into my mouth, her hands beginning to roam over my lower back.

Someone cleared their throat before speaking, "Umm child present," this causing us to pull apart and turn our attention away from each other, "seriously control yourselves, you've been alone for what ten seconds." Parker stated as she walked over to the table shaking her head and grabbed her water bottle off the table, waving it in the air to show that she had forgotten it and that it was the reason for her short return before leaving the room again.

Paige dropped her head down to lean it against my shoulder, "Why did we have kids again?" She groaned out against my chest.

I let out a small laugh as I rested my hand back onto the back of her neck and ran my thumb in circles softly against the exposed skin, "I couldn't answer that one for you if I wanted. Memory loss remember." I said pointing to my head as Paige pulled her head away from my shoulder and looked up at me.

"Right." She said with a small nod, "I'm sorry your first night back is such a disaster."

I immediately shook my head as I brought my hand to rest on her cheek, "This is what real families are like Paige, I don't expect you guys to be perfect all the time for me." I moved into press a light kiss to her other cheek before whispering in her ear, "And it hasn't been a complete disaster."

I nipped at the bottom of her ear before placing light kisses behind it and down her neck, "A-are you sure we have to sleep in separate rooms tonight." Her grip on my hips tightened as I sucked lightly on her neck lightly before pulling away from her and nodding, internally kicking myself for ever suggesting sleeping apart.

"But-" I cut her off quickly with another kiss before pulling myself away from her, making my way out of the room before she could argue anymore.

 **[Paige's POV]**

I opened the door and walked into Kacey's and Parker's room closing the door lightly behind me. Parker was nowhere in sight but the light seeping out from under the bathroom door suggested that she was in there. I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked lightly.

"Hey you okay in there?" I asked.

Parker opened the door a few moments later walking out of the bathroom and straight past me, "Yeah just getting ready for bed."

I nodded as Parker walked over to her bed and pulled the covers down before climbing in. I followed suit and walked over to flip the lights off before going to Kacey's bed and slipping in. We both laid in bed silently for a couple of minutes before I heard Parker's voice break through the silence, "I'm sorry we ruined your night. I didn't mean to."

I turned over in the bed so I could look across the room at Parker. When I turned around I could see that Parker was already looking directly at me from her bed, "It's fine Parker, really. She know it can't always be perfect."

Parker nodded slowly, "so she doesn't think we're crazy?" She asked and I could see her trying to resist the smirk that was forming on her face.

"Oh no she definitely thinks all of you are crazy…always has." I said with a small smile as Parker giggled.

"What about you?" She asked a little more seriously.

"Me? Well you guys definitely drive me crazy but for some reason I can't help but love all of you." I replied. Parker nodded but didn't say much else as she rolled over onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'll try to work it out with Kacey tomorrow, okay?" Parker said quietly after a few minutes passed. When I didn't respond immediately her head tilted to the side so she could see me.

I looked back at her questionably before nodding, "Good." Parker nodded and looked back up at the ceiling, "Is everything alright with you Parker?"

"Can we not talk about it right now?" Parker mumbled out.

"It's not okay for someone to hit you like that Parker. If something's going on you need to tell us, we can help you." I said trying to get anything I could out of the girl.

She tilted her head back in my direction and looked at me, "I promise I can handle it. It was just this stupid thing from a long time ago okay, nothing to worry about anymore."

"I'm your mom, I'm supposed to worry when someone hurts you Park. Just promise if you're in trouble or if it keeps happening that you'll tell me." I pleaded knowing that Parker was stubborn and liked to handle things on her own. She was never one to ask for help when she was in trouble, she liked to keep her business to herself.

"I promise I will. You have nothing to worry about though mom."

I simply nodded at her before she turned her head once again to the ceiling, "Well I'm going to continue to worry anyways." I said trying to lighten the mood a little. Parker let out a small giggle, "Love you mom."

"Love you too kid." I responded before turning over to my side to go to sleep.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I walked out of the master bathroom to see Kacey propped up against the headboard of the bed, "I see you've made yourself right at home." I said seeing how comfortable she was buried in the sheets and pillows.

"Okay your guy's bed is ridiculously comfortable." Kacey stated over dramatically.

I shrugged and walked over to the bed with a small smile on my face, "I wouldn't know."

I climbed in next to her sitting up against the headboard like her and the younger girl instantly snuggled up close to me resting her head on my shoulder and leaning into my body, "I'm glad your home mama. I'm sorry your first night didn't turn out all that great."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head lightly, "I'm glad to be home too. Don't be sorry baby, I understand that things aren't going to go smoothly all the time, I'm sure this isn't the first time this has happened."

"It's the first time anything like this has happened in a while." Kacey said.

"Paige said you guys usually don't fight with each other and from what I've seen you two seem very close so fill me in, what happened?" I asked hoping to get something out of the girl.

Kacey sighed and slightly shook her head, "I'm not supposed to say anything about it, that's why she's mad."

"So I didn't know about any of this stuff that's going on with Parker before the accident either?" I question trying to figure out what the girls could possibly be hiding and whether it was serious or not.

"You knew a little but by the time you figured it out she was done with it." I didn't respond to her statement, I couldn't exactly figure out what she meant. What was Parker done with? I didn't know enough about Parker yet to know what was going on with her or around her. I didn't even know much about Kacey to figure out where she was trying to lead me with this information without exactly saying anything about what Parker was keeping a secret.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Kacey spoke again, "She's good you know…Parker I mean. It's just been a long week with the meet and her bruise and everything. "

"I know that her little accident in PE wasn't so much an accident. Why did someone do that to her?" I knew I wasn't going to get an answer out of Kacey after Paige told me that we had both already tried and we had never figured it out.

"Parker doesn't want me saying anything about it, you have to ask her if you want to know." Apparently Paige was right, Kacey was very loyal when it came to her older sister.

I didn't like the fact that someone had hurt Parker on purpose and it made me anxious not having any idea why someone would do that. Parker seemed like a good kid and she definitely didn't seem like one to be the victim to a bully. "Kacey if somethings wrong with her or she's doing something she's not supposed to you need to tell us so we can help her."

Kacey looked up at me and I could tell the girl was on the verge of tears, "Don't worry they're not going to do anything bad to Parker and Parker isn't doing anything wrong."

I nodded deciding to just let it go for tonight at least, "Okay."

"Really that's it, you're not going to push for more?" Kacey said as she pulled away from me kind of surprised.

I shrugged, "No why, do I usually do that?"

The younger girl laughed before throwing herself back down, looking up at me, "Uhh yeah to say that you push for answers is an understatement. You more so demand we tell you things when you think we're up to no good."

I giggled at her response still trying to imagine myself as a tough parent but I guess it wasn't so far-fetched for me to be, "Well from what I've heard Paige doesn't discipline you guys much, so I suppose someone's got to do it right."

Kacey shrugged, "Or no one can do it and we can just do whatever we want." She said jokingly.

I laughed at her suggestion, "Keep dreaming. I can only imagine the trouble you two would find."

"What about Taylor, she isn't always good." She stated mocking offence at my statement.

Not once since I had been reintroduced to Taylor has she ever acted anything but perfect. She seemed to be the calmest of Paige and mine's kids. She was the sweetest little girl I had ever met and sometimes she was so quiet that you would forget that she was even in the room with you. I couldn't ever imagine the little girl misbehaving and getting into trouble like Parker and Kacey appeared to.

I scoffed at the girl next to me, "Please, that is the most well behaved girl I have ever met."

Kacey tilted her head in thought, "Yeah I suppose you're right on that one."

"What'd you say we try to get some sleep, you want to be well rested in case any brawls take place tomorrow?" I teased smiling down at her.

"Ha ha hilarious." I laughed at her response as she rolled her eyes and we both laid down getting comfortable, "Night mama, love you."

I couldn't help but smile, "Love you too sweetheart." I hadn't gotten used to being a parent yet. I mean the last thing I remember was me and Paige just barely being married. We didn't have to worry about anything but each other and even though being a parent seemed like a lot right now, since I was just thrown into it, I still couldn't be happier.

 **[Parker's POV]**

I continuously tossed and turned all night long, no matter what I did I couldn't sleep at all. I sat up and looked over at the clock, it was just after 3 a.m. I looked over to see mom fast asleep in Kacey's bed and sighed before standing up and making my way to the door quietly, opening it and closing it gently behind me.

I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen looking for something to snack on. I grabbed the bag of Oreos off the counter and poured myself a glass of milk. I was about to head into the living room when I saw that Kacey was sitting in the backyard with her feet in the pool. I walked towards the sliding glass door and contemplated on whether I should go out or if she would want to be alone.

I finally decided to take my chances and go sit with her, being sure that she couldn't sleep either. I slid the door open and Kacey immediately turned her head to face me. I smiled at her before she turned back around to face the water. I slid the door closed behind me and slowly made my way over to Kacey not really sure if it was okay or not. I sat down next to her and set the cup of milk and Oreos down in between us.

"Couldn't sleep?" Kacey's voice kind of startled me even though she spoke quietly. I turned my head to look at her, "No not really…I'm guessing you couldn't either."

Kacey shook her head to respond but she kept her eyes on her feet as she gently kicked them around in the water. I nodded not really sure what to say, taking an Oreo and dipping it in the milk next to me before popping it into my mouth. I pushed the bag closer to Kacey so it lightly hit her leg, I knew she loved Oreos and wouldn't be able to resist.

"You can have some if you want." I said not bothering to swallow the Oreo that I had just put in my mouth.

Kacey finally looked up at me for the first time with a small smile but I could tell she had been crying, "What like a peace offering?" She asked taking one from the bag and dipping it in the milk. I shrugged, "I guess you can consider it to be one of those."

"Are you even allowed to eat these during swim season?" She said in a teasing voice as she held up her Oreo and it made me smile because I knew that if she was acting normal that she wasn't mad anymore.

"Shut up, I'm not that bad." I said shoving her shoulder gently, which caused her to laugh, "Mhm whatever you say Park."

We sat in silence for a little while as we continued to eat the bag of cookies. I wanted to apologize but I didn't really know what to say. I knew that I should have never been mad with Kacey in the first place and that she really was just trying to look out for me.

I looked over at my little sister, "Hey Kace," I said softly waiting for her to turn her attention to me. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I got myself involved in all of this and I know you were just worried about me and then the whole missing most of the big meet thing, I don't know I just kind of took everything out on you and none of it was your fault."

Kacey looked back down at her feet, "It's fine Parker. You told me not to say anything to mom and I did anyways, but I didn't know you had anything on you or I would have kept my mouth shut…where'd you get them anyway?"

"I had them in my locker already, I just never got rid of them after last time." Kacey gave me a look like she wasn't sure if she believed me or not, "I swear Kace I told you already that I was done with all of that, why do you think I got taken out in PE. They want me to keep my mouth shut and well message received." I said pointing to the bruise on my side.

"You mean they want me to keep my mouth shut." She said looking back up at me with worried eyes.

I hated that I had put my sister in this situation. My old friends were bad news and they knew that Kacey could be fragile at times and that she would be an easy target when it came to messing with me. I had told them to stay away from her and they agreed but they weren't the best people in the world and weren't the kind of people that you would want to trust.

I shook my head, "They're not going to mess with you Kacey if that's what you're worried about, it's my problem and I'm handling it."

Kacey shook her head as she started to get upset, "But you shouldn't have to Parker. I don't get why you can't just tell mom, I mean mama didn't get that mad when she found out, she was just worried."

"Look I know they would help me but I just want to handle it on my own okay. Plus I don't want mom to know, you know how she gets with this kind of stuff. But like I said I've been done with them for a while now so you have nothing to worry about Kacey."

"Nothing to worry about? Parker they beat you up, as you would say 'to send a message' I feel like that's something I need to worry about." I laughed a little at her statement and she looked at me with wide eyes, surprised that I was laughing.

"Kacey, I don't get beat up anymore, I never really did, that only happened once. She hit me this morning because she heard people talking and thought I told mom, it was just a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that happened to hurt like a bitch." I said trying to calm her down.

"I don't know why you did it in the first place." She said with a heavy sigh.

"Kacey I'm not like you okay. I can't get straight A's, be an amazing athlete without trying, and still maintain a social life with good people. I needed help, an edge you know, or at least I felt like I did. I thought I had it all figured out you, but I'm a little bit of a screw up if you haven't noticed." I said not really knowing how to explain why I ever do anything.

"You're not a bad person Parker just because you made some mistakes." She said reassuringly.

"I know." I responded with a small smile. I stood up suddenly and looked down at Kacey, "Alright this is a little too much for me. I hate all this feelings, talking it out crap that you always want to do," I said teasingly, "what'd you say we go for a swim."

Kacey stayed seated next to the pool with her feet in the water, "Seriously Parker you want to swim laps right now, it's like 4 in the morning."

I shrugged and smirked down at her backing up slowly, "Who said anything about laps?" Kacey threw me a confused look before I took off running cannonballing into the pool right in front of her.

I resurfaced with a big smile on my face as I swam the small distance to reach Kacey. "Parker don't." She said as I reached out and grabbed her arm as she tried to hurry to her feet, easily pulling her into the pool.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I slowly opened my eyes rolling over to look at the clock. It was a little after 4 in the morning and I groaned figuring something must have woken me up. I rolled back over into my previous position, finally noticing that Kacey wasn't in bed anymore. I sat up looking over at the bathroom to see if she had gone in there but the light was off.

I groggily got out of bed and made my way out of the bedroom and down the hall to where Kacey and Parker's room was. I opened the door gently and peaked my head into the room and looking around. The sheets were thrown open on Parker's bed and there was no sign of the girl. Kacey's bed however was still occupied by Paige who was fast asleep.

I suddenly panicked remembering that Kacey and Parker had been fighting and were now both missing from their beds. I closed the door quietly and quickly made my way down the stairs looking around for the two girls. I glanced around the living room quickly as I made my way to the kitchen, still no sign of anyone.

I entered the empty kitchen and sighed wondering where they could've gone. I turned my head quickly as I heard a scream coming from the backyard. I was met with the sight of Parker and Kacey splashing around in the pool with big smiles on their faces. I watched them for a moment before walking out back to join them.

Both girls instantly stopped and faced me as I shut the sliding glass door, "What are you guys doing out here?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

Kacey and Parker both swam over to the edge of the pool right in front of me, "Neither of us could sleep so we decided to go for an early morning swim." Parker stated.

I looked back and forth between the girls suspiciously, "I thought you two were fighting?"

Kacey shook her head, "Nope, we worked it out. All just a misunderstanding." I moved my gaze to Parker who simply confirmed her sister's statement with a nod.

"Are you kidding me," I asked shocked that the two girls were already back on good terms, "you two were literally seconds away from killing each other like seven hours ago." They both laughed at my reaction as they looked at each other.

"We never fight for very long, you know that, you just don't remember." Kacey said as she shrugged. Parker nodded, "Yeah she's right. I'm pretty sure the longest fight we've ever had lasted like three days and that was only because I wasn't home for two of the three days we were fighting."

"Good to know." I said nodding before I turned my attention to the sliding glass door behind me. Paige stepped out and slid the door closed behind her as she walked out towards us sleepily, "You guys finally work it out?"

Parker and Kacey simply nodded their heads as they both pulled themselves out of the pool. Paige smiled, "Good. Does this mean everyone can return to their previous sleeping arrangements?" She asked hopefully as she wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into her side.

I giggled as Kacey shook her head rapidly with a smirk, "No way, your bed is amazing and I'm finishing my night in it. You've felt my bed, compared to yours it's like I'm sleeping on the ground."

"When did everyone get so dramatic? It's not that bad, I slept fine in it." Paige said.

"Perfect than you should have no problem finishing up the night in there." Kacey said over her shoulder as she quickly made her way back into the house.

Parker laughed at her little sister before attempting to follow her into the house but Paige grabbed her wrist and lightly tugged her back, "Wait a minute, I want to talk about this."

Parker sighed and looked down at her feet, "Really mom, I thought we already did before we went to bed."

Paige shook her head, "Parker I want to know what's going on with you. Neither of us have any clue what all this is about and it's freaking me out a little to know someone's hitting you with sticks and shit."

Parker shrugged and gestured her head towards me as she looked at Paige, "Well technically she did kind of know what's going on, she just doesn't remember. I mean she didn't know everything but come on mom if she knew and didn't freak out could it really be that bad."

Paige released her grip on me, "Wait I'm sorry, you told her what all this was about?"

"I didn't tell her, she kind of just found out about it. And then I asked her not to tell you because I know how you get about stuff." Parker said looking over at me.

Paige looked like she was beginning to get mad and I really wish that Parker hadn't said anything about me knowing what all this was about at some point. I didn't even know if it was true and I couldn't recall what it was about anyway.

"How I get about stuff?" Paige asked kind of surprised, "I hardly ever get mad about anything when it comes to you guys."

"You got mad earlier today. You basically dropped me from the entire meet and you also yelled, so I would definitely say that you get mad. At least you have been since mama got in her accident." Parker was now starting to get a little frustrated like Paige was and I didn't know what to do.

"Are you not telling me because you're mad I let your body rest a little? Parker you needed to lay off, you were pushing yourself to much." Paige said as she lowered her voice a little, trying to stay calm.

Parker rolled her eyes, "No I didn't, I was fine. You knew how much it meant to me and you still took me out of just about every race. And then on top of everything you gave my anchor spot to Kacey."

Paige looked over at the girl with a sigh as she rubbed her face, "Well who else was I going to give it to Parker? She's the next best swimmer. You need to stop acting like this every time something doesn't go your way Parker, it's really getting old."

"Good talk mom. I have no idea why I'm not rushing to spill all my secrets to you." Parker shook her head and turned around and walked back into the house without another word. I looked over at Paige who still had an agitated look on her face. I place my hand on her mid back and rubbed her back soothingly trying to get her to calm down, but it didn't seem to work.

"So everyone knows what's going on but me huh?" Paige said as she pulled away from me.

I didn't know what to say, she wasn't mad at me was she. "Paige I have no clue what's going on." She scoffed before turning to face me, "Yeah anymore, but you did and you didn't tell me."

I knew she was getting mad and I really didn't want to start a fight with anyone right after we just got Kacey and Parker to stop fighting. "Paige you can't get mad at me for this. I don't know what's going on with her and if I did at some point I probably didn't know for very long. Or maybe it wasn't a big deal. Or maybe she wanted to tell you herself. I don't know."

She shook her head as she started to walk back towards the door to the kitchen, "Maybe but that's not the point Emily. I'm tired of everyone keeping secrets from me. Seriously it's such bullshit, but whatever I just want to go to bed, we can talk about it later."

I sighed as she walked into the house and I was left alone. What the hell was going on, why was anyone mad at me. I know the least about anything in this house at the moment and it wasn't fair to fight with me about something that I legitimately knew nothing about.

I hadn't even been in this house for twenty-four hours and it's basically been nothing but fighting. Maybe this family wasn't as perfect as I thought. Maybe my life wasn't either. I was tired of being so clueless all of the time, I need to figure out what's going on in this house, with these people. I guess if Parker told me once she would tell me again right? Maybe I could convince her to tell both me and Paige about it, I wasn't sure how I was going to do that but I need to try.

I walked back into the house and looked around the kitchen, trying to find some stuff to make coffee. I figured I had gotten enough sleep for the night and I doubted if I went back upstairs that I was going to get anymore. I turned on the coffee maker and sat down at the table, putting my head down into my crossed arms with a sigh. Was all of this my fault? Maybe my accident had been putting a strain on the family and that's why everyone was so crazy lately.

Paige said that we were never like this but suddenly I come home and we're a mess of a family. I didn't know what to do, I was feeling that way a lot lately. I needed to figure out a way to get the family back to normal, I needed to make sure that this family didn't fall apart because of me.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys I got a question that I wanted to answer real quick. Someone asked if Kacey or Parker was gay and honestly I haven't exactly decided yet, but most likely at least one of them will be I'm just not sure which one yet, but I'm working on it and am going to try to address it in the next chapter. Okay that's all, sorry for the hold up, hope you enjoy the new chapter :)**

 **[Paige's POV]**

It took me awhile to fall asleep again with all the things running through my head, but I must have drifted off at some point. I was woken up when the bedroom door was closed by someone a little too loudly. I sat up rubbing my eyes and glanced around the room, assuming that Parker must have been the one to leave the room considering that she wasn't in here anymore. I groaned as I swung my feet over the side of the bed and onto the floor, resting my head in my hands.

Ever since Emily's accident I had been exhausted. Between taking care of the girls, working, and trying to help Emily, I was having trouble keeping myself together. I was having trouble thinking straight and no matter how much sleep I got I felt tired 24/7. I just needed to get out of the house for a little while, have some time to myself. I dragged myself down the hall and into mine and Emily's room, relieved when I saw that Kacey was the only one still in bed.

I quickly changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of running shorts before quietly leaving the room and walking downstairs into the kitchen. Emily was sitting at the table sipping a cup of coffee, "Morning." I said as I grabbed a banana off the counter and got a bottle of water out of the fridge.

I leaned against the counter across from where Emily sat at the table, "Morning." She replied never looking up from the mug in her hands.

I knew she was probably annoyed with the way I acted last night, but I didn't really care to be honest. I was still a little mad this morning and I just wanted to get out of the house to clear my head a little. I quickly finished my banana and walked over to the trashcan to throw away the peel. "Where's Parker?"

Emily shrugged finally looking at me for the first time this morning, "She left about 15 minutes ago, she didn't say where she was going, just that she had stuff to do."

I looked down at Emily questioningly. Emily didn't usually let Parker just leave the house without telling her where she was going, especially when she was upset like she had been yesterday. Parker got herself into trouble quite often so we usually made her tell us where she was going to be before we let her leave the house. It was weird watching Emily now. She was the same person that she had always been, she just didn't do things the way she usually did. Of course I understood why that was but it didn't make it any less weird.

"Okay well I'm going to go for a run and see if I can find her." I said walking out of the kitchen to go find my shoes.

"Maybe you should give her some space, she didn't really seem like she wanted to talk when she came down this morning." Emily said as she followed closely behind me to the front door.

I leaned down and grabbed my running shoes off the floor and slipped them on quickly as I sighed, "Well it's Parker she never wants to talk." I stood up to face her and I could see that she was getting annoyed with me. I frowned as I looked at her, "What do you want me to do Emily?" I asked.

"I want you to give her some time to relax. She's mad and I don't think it's a good idea for you to run off and force her to talk about something she doesn't want to." The look she was giving me and the tone of her voice made it clear that she was just as annoyed with me as I was with her.

"Fine" I huffed out before turning to leave again, but Emily grabbed my wrist stopping me, I yanked my arm back out of her hand turning around to face her, "Look Emily I'm not in the mood right now, I need to get out of this house." I exclaimed maybe a little too harshly by the look on Emily's face who just nodded before disappearing back into the house.

I sighed feeling bad about snapping at her, knowing that it wasn't her fault that all this stuff was going on. I figured I would just talk to her when I got back, hoping that I'd feel better after I cleared my head a little. I took off running down the street not really sure where it was that I was going. I felt stressed out and I didn't even feel like running I just wanted to get away from everything. I thought things would at least kind of seem normal with Emily home, maybe I just hadn't given it enough time yet she had only been home for a day.

When I got close to town I spotted Parker sitting outside the coffee shop with someone. The girl sitting across from Parker must have been one of her friends. The girl looked the same age as her and had blonde hair that messily fell a couple inches past her shoulders. I didn't want to judge her but she definitely didn't look like good news.

I slowed my jog to a walk as I got closer to them and watched on, stopping on the corner when I saw the girl start to get up out of her chair. She looked a little angry from where I was standing but I wasn't close enough to hear anything that she was saying to Parker. She said a few things before walking off in the opposite direction of me and Parker put her head in her hands as she leaned back in her chair.

I thought about turning around and pretending like I had never seen her. Emily wanted me to give Parker a little space but I wanted to know what was going on with her. I knew Emily was going to get mad that I did the opposite of what she had just told me to do but I mean it's not like I went looking for the girl I just happened to run into her. Before I had time to decide whether to leave or talk to the girl, she stood up out of her chair and turned in my direction.

She saw me immediately and rolled her eyes before walking over towards me, "You really have no self-control do you?"

"What?" I asked not being able to tell if she was being serious or if she was just teasing me.

"I know mama told you not to come find me. I asked her to tell you that if you tried to leave the house because I knew you would want to talk and I'm not necessarily in the mood." She said as she continued to walk past me.

I turned around and caught up to her quickly, "I wasn't looking for you, I was just out running." I said gesturing to my running outfit and wiping the small amount of sweat from my forehead to prove it. "I guess I wasn't necessarily in the mood to talk this morning either. At least not with your mother."

"So you guys are fighting now?" She asked as she looked over at me. I just shrugged down at her, "I wouldn't say fighting. I mean how do you fight with someone over something that never happened to them, you know. It seems a little unfair, but I don't know I'm still a little irritated."

"Yeah sorry about that. I was just trying to get under your skin by telling you that mama knew. I didn't mean to start a fight though, not between you and mama." I nodded as we continued to walk down the street and back towards the house. We walked a couple blocks in silence. I wasn't sure if I should just keep my mouth shut for the rest of the way home or if I should ask her who she was with. I couldn't help but wonder who she was and why she would be mad at her. My mind immediately went to the people that I knew Parker used to hang out with. I had only met them once so I probably wouldn't recognize any of them if I had saw them.

"Go ahead." I looked over to the girl with a raised eyebrow. "You can ask me whatever it is that you're dying to ask?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it," I question, "Or at least not with me that is."

Parker rolled her eyes, "Do you ever think that maybe I'm just trying to spare you the details of my screw-ups mom. I don't really want to inform you about any of my mistakes, especially the ones that I shouldn't be making."

I kept things from my parents sometimes when I was Parkers age too, I'm sure every teenager did. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was best if I didn't know, especially if it wasn't a big deal. I guess I should just drop it for now, until it gets brought up again sometime when Emily was around, I didn't need her to be mad at me for pushing Parker this morning after she had asked me not to. "Okay then. I'll drop it for now. But next time it comes up, if it comes up, then you're telling me what's going on, deal?"

Parker looked over at me kind of surprised at my compromise, "Really? That's it?" I nodded at her, "Yeah, okay that sounds fair." She said and I smiled glad that I didn't have to worry about that problem for a little while longer. Hopefully if we just sweep this under the rug for a little while until Emily settles back into her current life things will get better.

"So who was that girl you were with, she looked kind of pissed at you. Lady problems?" I asked with a small smirk.

Parker slightly laughed, "That's Brooke also known as the girl with the gnarly field hockey swing." My mouth hung slightly open from shock as my head snapped to Parker, who was now wearing a smirk. "This doesn't count as it coming up again does it because if it does then that's not fair."

I shook my head still surprised that Parker would be sipping coffee with the girl who had just beaten her black and blue, "What were you doing with her?"

"We're kind of friends I guess." That one made me laugh, "Really Parker cause I don't think that's how friendship works."

"It's a long story that can be brought up when I'm forced to talk about this issue later on when it comes up again, if it comes up again that is." She said catching me in my own trap. I sighed heavily before huffing out a 'fine'.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I was sitting in a chair that was set up right by the pool in the backyard. I had been sitting out here for a while trying to calm myself down from the multiple events that had occurred in the last day that I had been here. All of this fighting was stressing me out and if it had been this way since the accident had happened, I couldn't even imagine how stressed out Paige must have been. I started feeling bad for her after she left and I thought about how much she was forced to handle on her own for the last couple of weeks.

I sighed out of frustration at how hard this all seemed to be. I feel like it shouldn't be this difficult, yeah I couldn't remember anything but at the same time I remembered Paige and at least we should be getting along. She should be helping me out and it was frustrating that she wasn't being as supportive as I thought she should be. The kids were going to be tough to get to because I didn't remember them at all, I knew that but having Paige act the way she was wasn't making it any easier on me.

It was like she expected me to come home and for everything to be fine, like I was going to be able to just fall back into whatever my old routine was, but that just wasn't realistic. It also wasn't my fault. I wish that I could do that, that I could just fall back into routine and remember everything that I had forgotten after the accident but it didn't seem like that was going to happen and she needed to realize that.

I hadn't heard anyone come out into the backyard so I was startled when I felt someone grab my shoulder. I turned my head around quickly to see Taylor standing behind me, I frowned when I saw that she looked upset, "What's wrong Taylor?" I asked as I adjusted my position so I could face her.

"I don't feel good," she mumbled out as she looked up at me with a pout. I nodded my head as I reached my hand out feeling her forehead, she felt a little warm but it didn't seem too bad yet. I stood up and swooped the little girl up into my arms. She immediately leaned her weight into me and lightly placed her head on my shoulder as I carried her inside.

I walked into the kitchen and sat the girl on top of the counter and looked around the kitchen as I stood in front of her. I looked back down at Taylor, "Hmm okay Tay I'm new at this, so you're going to have to help me out a little here."

She responded with a small nod. "Alright so first thing, where does mom keep the medicine?" I asked not really knowing what to do other than give her a little medicine and then put her back in bed until Paige got home. Taylor looked at me before shrugging and shaking her head no. I looked at her with a small smirk, "Okay so you don't want medicine then." I said with a little chuckle. "What about something to eat then? You have to be hungry."

"Okay." Taylor said with a nod.

"Perfect." I walked over to where I saw a couple boxes of cereal sitting and threw a questioning look over at the girl, not knowing what she liked. I grabbed a box and held it up in question, "You like fruit loops?" The girl simply nodded again and I started opening cabinets in search for a bowl and spoon. I eventually found both and set a bowl down at the table before walking back over to the counter and placing the girl back on the floor, "Alright, why don't you eat your breakfast. I'm going to run upstairs real quick and get your sister, okay?"

Taylor walked over to the table and sat down with a nod as she began to eat her cereal. I was thankful that at least one of our kids seemed to be very easy to deal with. Parker definitely seemed like the hardest to deal with and Kacey didn't seem like she was easy a lot of the time but she didn't appear to be as bad as Parker. I walked upstairs quickly and walked into Paige's and I's room to see Kacey sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep.

I was kind of panicking about having to take care of the little girl downstairs by myself, especially if she got worse before Paige got home. I was thankful that at least someone was home with me and I wasn't alone but the way Kacey was passed out on the bed I might as well have been.

I walked over and sat on the side of the bed next to the girl and gently shook her shoulder, "Hey Kacey, you got to get up." The girl simply groaned and leaned her body away from my touch, attempting to bury herself deeper into the bed. I lightly chuckled to myself remembering Paige telling me about what a pain it was to get Kacey out of bed. "Come on, Taylor doesn't feel well and your mom's not here."

"You know what to do, you've taken care of us without mom before." She mumbled out while her eyes remained shut and she didn't bother moving. I sighed, obviously I had taken care of them without Paige before, but I hadn't really taken care of kids before I had them and I didn't even remember having them so I wasn't exactly sure how this all worked. Of course common sense said she'd be fine if I just let her sleep it off but I guess I was just a little anxious to be taking care of her alone because I didn't want to mess up.

"Alright I guess I'll just wait for Paige to get home then." I sighed as I ran my hand through Kacey's hair, straightening it out a little. I continued to run my fingers through her hair for a little while, it didn't take long before the girl had fallen back asleep. Everyone except for Kacey had gotten out of bed fairly early this morning, most likely due to nobody being able to sleep good with everything going on. It wasn't even noon yet and I already was exhausted, I sat with Kacey for a few more moments before I heard a door close. It kind of made me jump because I hadn't heard anyone come home and the door sounded like it had come from the hallway.

I stood up from the bed and walked into the hallway figuring that Taylor had finished her breakfast and went back to her room to lay down. I stepped out into the hallway closing my bedroom door behind me so Kacey could sleep for a little longer. Just as I closed the door Paige stepped out of Taylor's room shutting the door softly behind her as well. "Thank god you're home." I said as I leaned back against the door to our room sighing in relief.

Paige laughed at my reaction to her returning home, "Did she scare you?" she asked as she threw her thumb back in the direction of Taylor's bedroom door, a small smile still tugging at her lips.

"I didn't know what to do Paige. I mean it's not like I thought I was going to mess up and kill her or anything ridiculous like that. I just I don't know…" I stopped not really knowing what I was trying to get at. I wasn't really panicked at all when Taylor came to me and said she didn't feel good, but I just didn't want to do it alone. I had never been responsible for a child before and I didn't even know where the medicine was in the house. It made me worry about something serious happening while Paige was gone and me having to handle it on my own, I wouldn't know what to do.

Paige dragged me away from the door and a little bit further down the hall, "It's okay to be scared Em. You should have seen me with Parker when she was first born. I really did think I was going to accidently kill her or something ridiculous like that." She laughed slightly mocking me but at the same time being completely serious. I couldn't help but imagine Paige with a newborn baby, it must have been something.

"Yeah I can see that." I responded remembering the couple of times me and Paige had talked about having kids. "You used to cringe just at the thought of being completely responsible for a child. Looks like you got over that one pretty well though." I said referring to her being home for ten minutes and already having Taylor in bed with everything she needed.

Paige shook her head, gesturing over to Taylor's bedroom, "Please by the time you get around to number three they practically raise themselves." She joked as we made our way downstairs, "Dealing with Taylor being sick this morning while no one else was home was the first time you had to deal with one of your kids being sick. And since you don't remembering having kids it's like your first born in a way. If you think you did badly this morning though you should have seen us the first time Parker got sick, neither of us knew what the hell we were doing. We had to call your mom and get her over here." She laughed at the memory as she led me to the couch in the living room.

I sighed as we sat down, "See those are the kinds of things I wish I could remember." Paige wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me into her as I rested my head on her shoulder.

"It hasn't been that long Em, you're going to get your memory back. The doctor said that sometimes it takes a little while." She said trying to reassure me that things were going to be okay, but I didn't know how much I believed that I was going to get it back and if things were going to be okay.

"And if it doesn't come back?" I asked. Paige sighed and we sat in silence for a little while as we both thought about the possibility of my memory never returning.

"I don't know Em, we'll still be okay. It'll just take some time before you get used to how things are now. It's not going to change anything whether it comes back or not." She said, but that's not what I wanted to hear.

It was hard to imagine going on through life with almost 17 years missing somewhere in the middle, especially when everyone else could remember those 17 years and it was just you that had no idea what's going on in your own world. I wanted my memory to come back and it just felt like every day that went by and I wasn't getting any better was lessening my hope a little at a time. I nodded my head anyways, not really wanting to fall apart this early to returning home. I pulled my legs up onto the couch as I laid my head in Paige's lap, "So how bad did you freak out when Parker was born?" I asked with a small smile falling across my face, knowing that there was no way Paige didn't freak out.

I was actually kind of surprised that she was the first of us to get pregnant due to her ridiculous fears of having children. She had always wanted them but had also always been nervous about being responsible for a child for the sole reason that she was scared that she would screw the kid up. And although I knew it was an irrational fear, she couldn't help but be terrified.

I felt Paige's body shake slightly under me from her laughter as she ran her fingers through my hair soothingly, "Are you kidding me, I started freaking out at about the 6 month mark of being pregnant and didn't stop until Parker was a couple of weeks old. You on the other hand weren't scared at all."

I turned myself onto my back as a readjusted my head in her lap so I could look up at her, "Tell me about it."

"About what?" Paige asked.

"When we had Parker." I said wanting to know what it was like when we had our first child. I wanted to know everything and it seemed like a good place to start.

"Okay." Paige said as she looked up in thought before returning her gaze to mine with a small smile on her lips, "So it was, I don't know maybe 2 or 3 in the morning and I couldn't really sleep…"

 _Paige squirmed around in the bed in an attempt to get comfortable so she could go to sleep, which seemed to be an impossible task these days. Paige turned her head to the side so she could see Emily who appeared to be dead to the world and extremely comfortable unlike herself. Paige sighed as she tried to wiggle her way out of bed. Eventually she was able to swing her feet over the side of the bed and hoist herself up onto her feet. As soon as Paige stood up water came flooding out of her and she looked down to see that her sweats were now wet, "Oh shit."_

 _Paige turned her head to look over at Emily once she heard the rustle of the other woman in the bed behind her, "Paige where are you going?" Emily asked sleepily._

 _"_ _I just wanted a snack." Paige said calmly meeting Emily's barely opened eyes._

 _"_ _M'kay." Emily hardly mumbled as she closed her eyes fully and snuggled back into the sheets._

 _"_ _Uh honey I'm not really sure but I think my water broke, I don't really feel anything though so maybe I just peed myself." Paige said as she looked back down at herself curiously._

 _Emily's eyes shot open as she sat up in the bed quickly, jumping down onto the floor. She ushed over to Paige who was now trying to take off her pants. Emily helped her out of her sweats before lightly pushing Paige's shoulders down, trying to get her to sit down. When Paige finally sat down on the bed Emily walked over to the dresser and pulled out a dry pair of sweats and helped Paige back into them, "Okay you stay here and I'll get everything in the car and then I'll come back up and help you down."_

 _Emily ran out of the bedroom door and Paige instantly stood up and followed her out rather slowly still determined to get that snack she had originally gotten up for. By the time Paige had made it to the top of the stairs Emily was already out the front door and loading up the car. Paige made her way down the stairs as quickly as possible and walked into the kitchen, digging through the cabinets looking for something that interested her. She eventually settled on an almost empty jar of peanut butter to satisfy her taste buds. She sat down at the table and was slightly startled when Emily shot through the front door and up the stairs at full speed. Paige waited for the girl to return figuring it wouldn't take long for her to realize that she had walked downstairs herself even though she wasn't supposed to._

 _"_ _Paige!?" Emily called from upstairs before she came racing back down to where Paige was sitting. "Paige what are you doing? We have to go." Emily said slightly out of breath before she walked over to Paige and tried to pull her up out of the chair she was currently sitting in._

 _"_ _You know Emily I'm kind of tired and I was just going to finish this real quick and then head back upstairs and try to get a little sleep." Paige said calmly as she continued to scoop peanut butter out of the jar and lick it off of the spoon._

 _Emily looked down at her frantically and a little confused, "Paige we have to get you to the hospital. Your water broke. The baby's coming." Paige shook her head, "No I don't think it did, I feel fine." Paige responded before sticking the spoon of peanut butter back into her mouth._

 _"_ _Umm it definitely did Paige and I've never done this before but I'm pretty sure you don't just get to go back to sleep after your water breaks. Water breaks. You go to the hospital. You have the baby. That's how it works and you don't get a choice babe." Emily stated again as she continued to pull Paige out of the chair, but with Paige resisting her she wasn't getting anywhere._

 _"_ _I don't think I'm ready Em." Paige said as she looked up at Emily with worried eyes. Emily sighed a little frustrated, her and Paige had been through this multiple times in the last couple of months._

 _"_ _Paige it's going to be fine okay, but you really need to come with me because I don't know how this works and I'd feel a lot better if you were in the hospital so people who do know how it works can help you." Paige finally stopped fighting and allowed Emily to help pull her up out of the chair._

 _Paige held up the jar of peanut butter so Emily could see it, "Can I at least bring this with me?" Emily laughed a little at Paige who was now wearing a pout, "Sure, why not. As long as you get in the car." Paige nodded happily as Emily led her to the car and helped her into the passenger seat before rushing to the driver seat and pulling out of the driveway._

 _It was only about a 45 minute drive to the hospital and due to it being the middle of the night they made it to the hospital rather quickly. Emily pulled the car over as close to the hospital doors as she was allowed to and walked quickly over to Paige's door. She reached in to try to help Paige out of the car when she gasped loudly. Emily jumped out of surprise, "What?! What happened?"_

 _A second later the small pain was gone and Paige took a deep breath as she shook her head, "I don't know but it didn't feel great." Paige allowed Emily to continue helping her out of the car and into the hospital. The women entered the hospital and were soon given a room._

 _"_ _Oh my god, our baby's finally going to be here. This is so exciting!" Emily squealed excitedly as she stood next to Paige's hospital bed._

 _"_ _Yeah easy for you to say, a baby isn't about to claw its way out of you." Paige responded with a slightly horrified look on her face._

 _Emily let out a small laugh, "Well when you say it like that it sounds like a horror film is about to take place in here. Actually do you remember that scary movie we watched where the-"_

 _"_ _Em seriously?! Not exactly what I want to be thinking about right now!"_

 _"_ _Right, sorry." Emily said as she grabbed a hold of Paige's hand and started playing with Paige's fingers, a light smile on her face, "I'm so happy, I can't wait for her to be here."_

 _Paige smiled up at Emily, "It's kind of terrifying but in the best kind of way isn't it?" Emily nodded as a doctor came into the room, "Fields-McCullers?" Emily and Paige both nodded at the doctor before he continued on. "Okay well your contractions have barely started and they're still pretty far apart so it'll probably be quite a while before we can start trying to deliver the baby. But everything looks good so far so you guys have nothing to worry about, nurses will be in and out to check on you and if you need anything or if you have any questions just press the call button okay?" Both women nodded before the doctor left the room leaving them alone again._

 _"_ _You don't have to be so scared Paige. You're going to do great and everything is going to be fine." Emily said sensing that the girl was starting to panic a little. Paige looked up at her with no signs of the panic going anywhere, "How do you know Em, what if I'm not ready for this? I mean it's a life we're talking about here, what if I screw up?" Paige looked down at their hands as Emily intertwined their fingers._

 _"_ _This wasn't a spur of the moment thing Paige. We talked about this a lot before you got pregnant and you and I both know we're ready. And I promise you're going to be great with her. I'm a little scared to, but think about it, we're going to have a family. Our own little family." Emily stated not being able to contain the wide smile on her face and it seemed to ease any issues that Paige was having. It was just what she needed to see, the excitement on her wife's face of them finally having their own family._

 _Paige knew that Emily was right, they were going to be fine. Emily was going to be a great mother and maybe with a little practice Paige figured that she could be a great mom too if it didn't come as easily to her as she knew it would to Emily. Paige leaned up the best she could and even though she couldn't reach Emily on her own Emily happily leaned down the rest of the way to meet Paige's lips in a passionate kiss._

 _"_ _Feel better?" Emily asked as she pulled away. Paige nodded with a smile, "You're going to be a really good mom Emily."_

 _Emily's wide smile somehow grew wider than it already was, "So are you." Emily carefully brought her hand to Paige's face moving the loose strands of hair and tucking them carefully behind Paige's ear. "Well I better call our parents so they know what's going on. I'm sure everyone will want to see her as soon as they can." Emily said as she continued to run her thumb soothingly over Paige's skin as they held hands._

 _Paige nodded at the other woman, "Yeah they'll have a fit if you don't let them know we're here."_

 _Emily laughed as she nodded "They really will. I'll be right back okay." Emily leaned down to press a soft kiss to Paige's lips. "I love you." She whispered against her lips before she pulled away and turned to walk out into the hallway, "I love you too." Paige said right before the girl left the room._

 _Many hours and a lot of pushing/screaming later the sound that everyone had been waiting for finally filled Paige's hospital room. Paige let out a sigh of relief as she collapsed onto the bed exhausted while Emily appeared to be down by the doctor doing things that they usually would let the parent who wasn't giving birth do. Emily returned to her side quickly gripping her wife's hand tightly as she smiled at the baby that was being carried off._

 _"_ _I told you that you'd do good. "Emily whispered as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the side of my head. "Oh gosh she's so beautiful Paige. And so tiny, wait till you see her."_

 _Paige smiled at the way it took a matter of seconds for Emily to become a gushing parent. She had a look of pride in her eyes as she continued speaking to Paige about the small baby that was being cleaned off in the corner of the room, Paige not really listening to her wife but rather memorizing the way she looked right now as a new mother._

 _Before she knew it a nurse walked over and placed the baby in Emily's arms. Emily smiled down at the baby as tears started to fall from her eyes, "You wanna hold her?" Paige hesitantly nodded as Emily leaned down to place the infant in Paige's arms for the first time._

 _Paige took a deep breath as Emily pulled her arms away from the infant's body and a small smile began to spread across her face, "Wow…she is really small isn't she."_

 _Emily reached down and ran her finger across the baby's fisted hands, "Mhm." They sat in silence for a little while, both woman with huge smiles and some tears on their faces as they stared down at the new addition to their family._

…"So then all the cheesy stuff they say in the movies about feeling like you love them more than anything in an instant is true?" I asked as I looked up at Paige who had a smile on her face the entire time she told the story.

"Every single cliché is factual. It's amazing and it happens every time you have one. It was just as mesmerizing when Kacey was born and the same when Taylor came. I don't know it's hard to explain, but it's the best thing in the world." I smiled as Paige continued to speak of the experience of becoming a parent, "And then it just keeps getting better. Like when they take their first steps or say their first word, it's like you never want to leave their side because you're scared you'll miss something."

She looked down at me with a hint of sadness in her eyes and I instantly knew what she was thinking, "I wish you could remember Em, you were so good with all of them. Of course we had our moments where they drove us crazy, I mean we had an infant and a 1 year old at the same time for crying out loud. I swear we literally didn't sleep for weeks at a time Em, we would get one to settle down and the other one would be ready to go, it was insane. And then as I'm sure you can tell, they drive us a little crazy now too that they're teenagers. There's always something new with them, it's definitely a rollercoaster." She said with an exaggerated exhale.

"But it was the best thing ever right?" I asked thinking that it sounded like a lot but running around with your own children when they were learning all these new things must have been fun. And even now that they were older, I still wished I had every memory I made with them, good or bad.

"I would do anything to go back and do it all over again." Paige said with a small smile as she leaned down to kiss me. I reached my arm up and grabbed the back of her neck, using it to pull myself up a little to get closer to her. I pulled away slightly and attempted to lay back down but Paige already had her hands placed on my back and held me close to her, pulling me up to where I was almost in a sitting position.

"No, don't stop." Paige simply mumbled against my lips as she kissed me again, a little harder this time. I couldn't help but smile against her lips as I kissed back for a moment before placing my hands on her chest and pushing her back slightly, "Paige, we're in the middle of the living room."

Paige wasn't fazed by my argument as to why we should probably stop, instead when I pulled my head away from her she wrapped her arms around my waist and held me tightly in place. I couldn't help but laugh as she moved her mouth to my neck when she couldn't reach my lips due to me turning my head away from her. I felt her lips curl into a smile as she continued to kiss my neck lazily, "Mmm I love you." She mumble against my neck and I couldn't contain the smile that was spreading widely across my face.

This took me back to the times we were teenagers making out in the living room where we were because our parents thought it would prevent us from doing just that. We had been so in love back then, not being able to keep our hands off each other, not wanting to. And even though I had been having some doubts about whether we were still happy or not since my accident, this single moment made me feel like we definitely were. I lifted my hand to her face, pulling her head away from my neck and forcing her to face me so I could reattach our lips. I pulled away just enough to whisper a response to her, "I love you too Paige."

I was about to lean in for another kiss when I heard a door open and close upstairs. I placed a quick kiss on Paige's lips before pulling back just in enough time to see Kacey and Parker trotting down the stairs. Paige groaned slightly as I slid off her lap, where I had somehow ended up. "Hey watcha guys doing?" Kacey asked as she leaned on the back of the couch.

"Nothing anymore." Paige teased as she smirked at the two girls who instantly knew what she had meant.

"Didn't need to know that but I can't say I'm surprised." Kacey responded as she climbed over the back of the couch and plopped down next to me, Parker taking her sister's previous place against the back of the couch.

Paige shrugged and I laughed looking back at Parker, "We weren't doing anything-"

"We were about to." Paige cut me off and I shoved her shoulder telling her to stop it before turning my focus back to the girls, "She was just telling me about the day you were born."

Parker smiled nodding her head in understanding, "So I take it you two settled your differences from this morning."

I was caught a little off guard. We had gotten along so well when Paige returned from her run that I had actually forgotten that we had been annoyed with each other at the start of the day. "Yeah I guess we did." I responded not really knowing what else to say about it.

"Sweet, now no one in the entire house is fighting, unless someone started a feud with Taylor that I don't know about but I highly doubt it." Kacey stated and everyone slightly nodded their heads in agreement that Taylor wasn't fighting with anyone due to the fact that the young girl had yet to ever really fight with anyone in her life besides the occasional tantrum that she threw.

"We are officially all on good terms and in good moods again." Parker said with a small smile, "Well except for mom who isn't getting what she wants." The girl added with a smirk as she and Kacey both shuddered a little at the thought of what we all knew Paige wanted in a teasing gesture.

"Ha ha you guys are hilarious." Paige said and even though she was trying to act irritated I could tell she was fighting back a smile.

This is the kind of family that I was hoping for and that I expected to have with Paige. Now that no one was fighting I could finally get the chance to see what it was like to just hang around with them and have a little bit of fun. And so far it seemed like a good time. I wanted my memory to come back really bad but maybe Paige was right. If it didn't come back I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Worst things could have happened in the accident, I was lucky just to be able to be here with my family and I was happy with that.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys, so so sorry for the long wait. Somehow the document that this chapter was in got erased off of my laptop and I had to rewrite the entire chapter over again, which was the cause of the delayed update. Hope it turned out alright anyways though, it was oddly harder to write the second time around, enjoy!**

 **[Paige's POV]**

The rest of the weekend went by smoothly and before I knew it, I was being woken up on Monday morning. "What the hell is she doing down there?" Emily groaned out lightly as she buried her head deeper into my body trying to drown out the sound of Parker's early morning antics.

"We have practice in the mornings on Monday so she feels like she needs to get an extra early start so she can get a good breakfast and also have enough time for a pre-practice workout."

I laughed as Emily looked up at me with a disgusted look on her face, "So basically you turned her into you when you were a teenager and took swimming way to seriously?" Emily teased with a hint of seriousness in her voice. I shrugged with a small smile on my face before nodding as the noises from downstairs stopped abruptly.

Emily sighed in relief, laying her head back down on my chest and snuggling into me getting comfortable before closing her eyes. I did my best to hold in a laugh after I glanced at the clock knowing that within the next minute the sound of the alarm clock in our room was going to blare through the air.

I laughed as it happened and Emily unwilling scooted away from me as I leaned out from under her and reached over to turn the alarm off, "Sorry babe, I have to get ready for work." I said as I sat up and began to move out of bed causing Emily to groan in protest once again.

I walked over to the bathroom and began getting ready, when I eventually reentered the room I expected Emily to be sleeping but instead she was sitting up in the bed waiting for me, "Everything alright?" I asked noticing that she looked a little lost in thought.

She nodded her head as she looked up at me with a sleepy smile, "Just trying to figure out what I'm going to do all day while you guys are at school." I nodded in understanding as I continued to get dressed for the day, "I was thinking that maybe I should go back to work."

I looked over at her kind of surprised that she was already thinking about going back to work. I knew Emily loved her job and even though the accident had happened just over a month ago I was still hesitant on leaving Emily with a bunch of people who knew her but she couldn't remember, "Are you sure Em, I mean are you really ready? It hasn't been that long yet and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you took a little more time."

Emily shrugged, "I can't just sit around anymore, I'm going to have to go back sometime and, besides the whole memory thing I feel completely fine, so now's as good a time as any."

I was still hesitant but I knew she was right and that I would have to let her venture out into the world on her own eventually, it didn't matter if her memory was back or not she was going to have to go at some point. "You don't think I should go." Emily said suddenly causing me to turn around and face her again.

"No it's not that. I just…I don't want you to get overwhelmed or anything. I know that since the accident when people know you but you don't recognize them that you can get a little on edge and I just don't want you to have an episode while you're at work." I instantly could tell by the look on Emily's face that my answer hadn't been the best or the one she wanted.

"Well it can be a lot sometimes Paige, you don't have to make it sound like I'm crazy." She was now irritated with me and I couldn't help but think that the people in this house feeling that way towards me was happening a lot these days, great I thought.

I sighed not wanting this to turn into another fight, I had more of those than I could handle in the last week. "No Em, I didn't mean it like that. If you want to go back to work and you say you're ready then I think it's great." I said with a smile.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Now you're just saying that to avoid a fight." I looked up at her and saw that she was smirking a little and wasn't seriously calling me out even though she was right, "Don't forget that even though I may not know a lot of people in my life I still know you."

"And for that I am forever grateful." I said as I walked over to her resting my hands down on the mattress in front of her and leaned in to place a quick kiss to her lips. "But really Em, if you think that it'll be helpful and that you're ready for it then I can call and let them know you want to come back and see what they think about it, which I'm sure they'll be ecstatic to have you returning sooner than they thought you would."

Emily couldn't fight the small smile that crept on her face and I was happy that I had said the right thing this time. I still was a little worried but I knew that Emily was going to do what she wanted anyways so I might as well jump on board with her returning to work a little earlier.

"Yeah I want to go back. I mean I still know a lot about swimming and spending some time by the pool with the kids made me realize that I kind of miss it. And who knows, even though I may not know the people, maybe being around something that I actually know like swimming will make me feel better." Emily sighed, "Or maybe it'll be a huge mistake going back so soon and I'll have some huge breakdown. I mean I don't know what's going to happen, but I want to try."

I couldn't help but smile at the look of determination on my wife's face, being willing to try anything that would help her situation. She wasn't one to cower away from problems or situations that she may feel uncomfortable in, that's one of the many things I loved about her. She wanted to dive right into things whether she was terrified of them or not, it didn't matter. And while there were probably plenty of people in the world with that kind of attitude, Emily was the only person I had ever met that was like that and in my eyes it made her the most amazing human being in the world.

"Hey Em don't make any plans tonight alright?"

She looked at me slightly confused before responding with a slight chuckle, "Paige who in the world would I make plans with, I honestly don't even think I could make plans if I wanted to"

I smiled shyly suddenly becoming a little embarrassed as I tilted my head and my eyes moved down to my feet, "Right." I said suddenly getting nervous for some reason.

Emily slowly got out of bed and made her way over to me curiously asking, "So are you going to tell me why you don't want me to make plans?"

I nodded before meeting her gaze, "I want to take you out to dinner or something. I don't know I think a date night is far overdue." I stated but when she didn't answer me right away I quickly added, "…only if you're up for it that is."

I don't know why but I couldn't help but hold my breath as I waited for her response. Of course Emily had been my wife for years and we had been on so many dates that I couldn't even keep track if I tried, but standing in front of this stunning woman never failed to make my stomach do flips and the palms of my hands to get a little sweaty as if it was the first time I was asking her out.

My fear was carried away when I saw the corners of Emily's mouth began to lift into a smile and a glint of excitement entered her eyes, "Of course I'm up for it, what'd you have in mind?" She asked as she hung her arms loosely around my neck.

I looked up in thought and realized that I hadn't gotten that far yet in deciding what we were going to do tonight, "Hmm not sure yet, it was a spur of the moment date night." I admitted before pecking her on the lips, "but don't worry I'll have it all figured out by the time I get home."

"I gotta go but I'll call your work and get that squared away for you today and I'll be home as soon as I get off work and we'll have the perfect night, sound good?" I asked.

"Sounds perfect already." She responded as she pulled me in for another short kiss, "I can't wait."

"Me either, but I really have to go, I'm going to be late." I said before planting one last kiss on her lips. I pulled away from her and shouted, "Love you," over my shoulder as I rushed out of the bedroom door. I heard a faint 'I love you too' from Emily as I entered the hallway and made my way down the stairs in a hurry.

I entered the kitchen to see Kacey leaning against the counter with her bag thrown over her shoulder eating a bagel as she waited for me along with Taylor who was already standing by the front door, "Ready?" I asked and Kacey lazily nodded and followed me out the front door while Taylor ran enthusiastically to the car a few steps ahead of both of us.

We dropped Taylor off before driving to the high school. Practice went by without a hitch and the day seemed to be going by rather quickly. Before I knew it we were a few minutes away from lunch and my day had been going pleasantly well for a Monday. The bell indicating that it was lunch finally came and I sat at my desk as the students flooded out of my classroom.

I had to call Emily's work as well as figure out somewhere we could go out and eat tonight. I was pretty hungry though since I had skipped breakfast due to running a little late this morning so I decided to deal with that first before I did anything else. I got up out of my desk and made my way out into the school hallways that were semi full with kids who hadn't quite yet made it to the cafeteria to eat.

I was making my way towards the cafeteria when I saw Kacey standing by her locker talking to the girl Parker was arguing with the other day at the coffee shop. I stopped a decent distance away from the two girls, wondering if Kacey knew the Brooke girl through Parker. While I couldn't see Kacey's face, Brooke had a small smile on hers and they seemed to be joking around. It didn't look like I had much to be concerned about. Brooke appeared to be getting along much better with Kacey than she had been with Parker. However it didn't make sense to me for this Brooke girl to be hanging around either one of my daughters after she hit one of them.

It didn't take long before the two girls parted ways, Kacey walking towards the cafeteria and Brooke walking back in my direction. I knew Parker told me to leave it alone as well as Emily but I couldn't help myself. As the blonde girl made her way past me her name had come out of my mouth before I could stop myself, "Brooke."

The girl quickly turned around and didn't looked pleased with who had called her, "Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked, not wanting to make the girl feel forced or cornered.

"Umm yeah, sure." She said looking a little nervous.

I pulled her off to the side of the hallway not wanting to make a scene of any kind, "I just want to let you know that Parker told me what you did. Now I'm not going to say anything because I have no idea what's going on with her and you or any of your other friends, but whatever it is it's going to stop."

Brooke was about to interrupt me, but I stopped her quickly, "No let me finish. I don't want to hear that you are messing with them, especially Kacey. So don't let me see you anywhere near either of them and there won't be any problems. I'm not going to say anything unless I feel like it is completely necessary, so don't give me a reason to, okay?"

The girl looked at me not seeming to be phased at all by what I was saying, "Are you threatening me? Because I really don't think you're supposed to do that as a teacher."

I looked at the girl in disbelief, I couldn't believe that she was turning this into me being in the wrong. "No I'm not threatening you Brooke, I'm just asking you to leave them alone and drop whatever problem you have with Parker and I won't say anything about what I know."

"What do you know?" She asked looking a little more mad than scared.

I shook my head, "Not much. You somehow have managed to keep both of them from saying anything at all, but I don't need much more than what I have already for you to have a reason to stop."

Brooke nodded her head in understanding, "Okay."

I was a little surprised that she agreed so easily, "Thank you." I said in relief that the girl was just going to drop the matter and that hopefully this would put an end to whatever problems were going on with the girls.

Brooke began to walk away when I thought of something else, "Wait one more thing." The girl turned around and waited for me to continue, "Could you not mention this little chat we had to anyone. I don't need any more people mad at me for trying to help." The girl nodded before turning around and walking away but it didn't really seem to put my mind at ease.

I was nervous now, certain that Parker was going to find out that I talked to Brooke and that it was just going to cause more problems, while that wasn't my intention at all, it was possible. I let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling uneasy about my decision to approach Brooke but I wanted her and whoever else was involved to leave my kids alone. It was hard to watch your daughters struggle with something and have no way to fix it or at least make it a little better. This was just my way of trying to help and hopefully it wouldn't backfire.

 **[Parker's POV]**

My last class of the day finished and I was headed to the locker room to get a couple of my things before heading home. Since we had practice this morning, I was eager to get home due to my mood for a much needed nap. I pushed through the locker room door and walked over to my locker quickly unlocking it and digging through it for my stuff. I didn't pay much attention when I heard someone come in figuring that it was just Kacey who said she would wait for me so we could walk home together, but when I heard someone twist the lock on the locker room door shut I stopped momentarily to wait for someone to come around the corner knowing that Kacey wouldn't have locked the door.

I let out a sigh of relief when it was just Brooke who turned into the aisle my locker was in, fully aware that she wasn't going to do anything and even if she was, she couldn't do much damage to me compared to what the others could, "Jesus do you have to sneak up like that?" I sighed irritated as I closed my locker and turned in her direction.

I hardly had enough time to face her before I was shoved hard against the lockers, "What the hell McCullers!" I held in a groan from the impact of the locker, not wanting her to see that it hurt a little when I hit it. I looked at her confused not knowing what it was that I did this time. I continued to look at her waiting for the girl to explain what this was about, keeping my back leaned against the locker so she wouldn't push me again.

"You told your mom that I was the one who hit you, do you know how much trouble I could get in?!" She was well past mad at this point but since she was alone I wasn't too worried about being pushed around by her due to the fact that Brooke was the easiest on me out of the three of my old friends.

"Okay well you kind of did and she saw you yelling at me the other morning at the coffee shop, what was I supposed to say when she asked who you were?" I asked being completely serious. I was tired of Brooke acting so dramatic all the time and I just wanted to get home.

"Hmm I don't know," Brooke shrugged sarcastically before her face returned to its previously pissed off one finishing her statement, "just about anything else!"

I sighed realizing my mistake of drawing my mom's attention to the girl, "Look I didn't think she would say anything to you, I told her we were kind of friends so-"

"We are not friends." Brooke huffed cutting me off as she turned away from me and started to walk away.

"Oh really?" I yelled after her causing the blonde to turn around who frowned when she saw that I was smirking, "because if I recall correctly you've acted awfully friendly with me more than once." I said knowing I'd get a rise out of the girl which I immediately did, "Keep your mouth shut Parker!" She yelled but before she could say anything else I decided to take this chance to show her that really it was me who had the upper hand when it came to us.

"Don't forget that I know your secrets to." I said trying to sound intimidating as I approached her. But as soon as I saw the glint of fear in her eyes, as the realization that I had just as much on her as she had on me hit her, my smirk turned into a frown.

I instantly couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl standing in front of me. I didn't know exactly what we were, but in my eyes we were at the least friends and I felt the need to let her know that, "Look I didn't mean that. I'm not going to say anything B, you know me and you know that I wouldn't do that." I sighed hating that I couldn't just be mean back to her for once.

I knew that it wasn't her intention to be mean to me like that all the time but she wasn't the kind of girl who trusted people, so if you tried to hold something over her she tended to snap at you. I really wanted to just give up on the girl and give her a taste of her own medicine but I couldn't bring myself to do that no matter how hard I tried. I knew I had it bad for the girl and while she gave me mixed signals on how she felt about me, I was pretty confident that she liked me too even though she didn't always show it.

She simply nodded pulling her eyes away from me. Her sudden movement causing me to realize that we had somehow ended up face to face with each other and we were a little too close, I took a step back towards my locker, giving her a little space. We both stood awkwardly silent for a few moments before hearing someone trying to open the locked door and then the twist of the lock allowing us to know that it was most likely my mom who was entering the room, due to the fact that she was one of the few people who had a key to the room.

"Just don't say anything to her about anything else okay" she said sounding a little angry again. She gave me a pointed look, "ANYTHING." She emphasized through gritted teeth before my mom came up behind her.

"Why was the door locked? And what are you two doing in here?" My mom asked, not bothering to hide her glare on the blonde.

Brooke ignored my mom's question not even looking behind her to acknowledge her as she walked by me bumping my shoulder harshly and leaving the room in a hurry. I looked at my mom who now wore a questioning look, I sighed knowing that I was going to have to spill something to her or at least come up with some lie in order to explain Brooke.

"Really mom, what did you say to her? You're going to get me killed out here you know that? She's a little crazy and I don't need that crazy directed at me." I stated honestly. Brooke definitely had a lot going on in her life and that may have caused a few screws in her head to come a little loose from time to time. She honestly was a really sweet girl when she wanted to be, it was just that she just had her back up against the wall most of the time and people didn't get to see all the good sides of her.

"I told her to stay away from you and Kacey." She stated calmly, clearly not being able to let me handle it on my own like I had told her I would.

"Mom, really?" I asked slightly annoyed, "Why would you do that, I told you I would handle it. Which I was, plus like I told you she's my friend so you don't have to worry about her. And why did you tell her to stay away from Kacey?" I asked not recalling telling my mom that they knew each other.

"First of all Parker I'm really concerned about your judgement when it comes to choosing friends. Second I told her to stay away from Kacey because I saw them together today and I don't want people like Brooke messing with Kacey."

"She was only talking to Kacey because I asked her to." A small smile crept onto my lips as I thought of Brooke talking to Kacey like I had asked her to. I knew Kacey was worrying a lot about what was going on with me and about getting beat up or something, so I had asked Brooke to talk to my little sister and reassure her that it was indeed a misunderstanding that had gotten me hit and that it wouldn't happen again.

"Wait a minute." My mom said as she studied my face, I quickly looked away not wanting to give anything away, "Parker please don't tell me that you have a thing for this girl."

"W-what of course not why would you say that?" I asked instantly kicking myself knowing that I had made it obvious that I was nervous, and coming off a little defensive, with my way too quick of a response.

"Seriously Parker, out of all the girls in the school you're going to go for the bad girl who beats you up?" My mom wasn't even trying to hide her look of disapproval but I was surprised that she had narrowed down to people I would be interested in were female.

Maybe I did have a little thing for Brooke but I had never told anyone, not even Kacey and I hadn't told anyone I was gay. I wasn't even sure if I was gay. Of course Kacey and I had teased each other about the possibility of one of us being interested in the same sex but that was just something we joked about, I didn't think anyone actually thought I could really be gay.

"Out of all the girls? Why did you say that, y-you think I'm gay?" I don't know why I was suddenly so nervous but I could feel my palms sweating, I also felt a little light headed, and the flips that my stomach were doing was making me feel like I was going to blow chunks any second.

I couldn't even focus on what my mom was saying anymore, I saw her mouth moving but it was like my ears were muted as a million thoughts ran through my head at hyper speed. "I think I need some air." I said as I slowly began to back away from her.

I saw the panic in her eyes as her worried voice escaped her mouth, "Parker stop, it's fine okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I just thought that maybe that's why you were letting her do these things to you, I didn't mean to assume anything, I'm really sorry honey."

"Really, it's fine. I just am going to go get some of that air, I don't really feel all that great." I mumbled out as I continued to back away from her. When I finally got to the edge of the lockers I quickly stumbled my way out of the locker room and out into the hallway. I rubbed my face, feeling hot and made my way out of the hallway and out the door of the school. I don't know why I was panicking so much, I had two moms, they don't care if I'm gay. And honestly I didn't really care if I was gay either or if people found out, I dint see anything wrong with it, but I knew that Brooke did.

I finally realized why I was freaking out so much. It wasn't because I may be gay and people may find out but because Brooke was gay and she definitely didn't want people to know about her sexuality. And if people were to find out, she would know it was me who said something due to the fact I was the only one who knew and I really couldn't let that happen.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Whoa sorry." I turned around to see Brooke standing behind me with a guilty expression on her face and her hands up in the air.

"What did I literally just tell you about sneaking up on me?" I said irritated with the girl who just yelled at me in the locker room for no reason.

"Geez, I was just coming over to say sorry about freaking out on you in the locker room, I didn't mean to do that, I was just having one of my moments." She said before looking at me a little closer. I saw her eyes furrow in confusion, "Are you alright? Why are you sweating?" She asked as she ran her sleeve across my forehead and pulled me off to the side away from the few kids who were still hanging around the school.

"I'm fine." I said as I saw the slight worry in her eyes. I leaned against the wall and Brooke followed suit, leaning against the wall besides me, our bodies practically touching side to side.

I saw her turn her head to face me out of the corner of my eye while her back remained on the wall, "What'd your mom say? I wasn't really supposed to be hanging out with you."

I shook my head before turning my head to meet her gaze, "Nothing really, just that she talked to you about leaving me and Kacey alone."

Brooke nodded before turning her head to face in front of her, but I decided to keep my head turned to her. Taking advantage of being able to admire her features for more than a second. We didn't spend much time together at school because according to Brooke we weren't friends and she didn't really want to be seen hanging out with me while we were here. I moved my line of sight down to our hands when I felt her began to purposeful brush them together, lingering for a little bit when they met.

My eyes quickly moved back up to her face when she spoke, "would you stop looking at me like that." I saw a small smile on her face and figured since no one was around it was okay to drop my guard for a little and maybe she would to. I slowly moved my hand against hers until I had a good angle to loosely intertwine our fingers. I couldn't fight the small upward tug on my lips when she didn't pull away.

"Weird how 10 minutes ago we weren't friends." I said teasingly, deciding not to bring up the reason why I was so distraught when she first found me.

"We're still not." She responded smugly.

I lifted our hands to eye level and acted as if I was studying them questioningly, "I don't know, this seems like a pretty friendly gesture to me."

She lowered our hands back to our sides as she pulled away from the wall standing in front of me, never moving her eyes away from our hands, "Maybe. Maybe not." She mumbled before looking up at me.

"My mom knows." My eyes widened a little in surprise when the words slipped out of my mouth. I regretted the unintended words instantly when the beautiful blonde across from me pulled her hand out of mine and stepped back a little creating more space between us. "Not about you, just that I have a thing for you." I added noticing that I didtn really give her much information as to what my mom had guessed earlier.

I was shocked when the girl didn't freak out on me but rather chuckled a little, "You have a thing for me?" she asked as a smirk settled across her face.

"No absolutely not." I said as I shook my head, "In fact you disgust me but she seems to believe that I do, I didn't confirm it of course though because it's obviously not true." I said half teasing the girl, but truly not wanting to be the first to admit that I did in fact like Brooke as not only a friend but maybe even something more although I wasn't very good at being subtle about it.

"Mmm I see, too bad." She responded playfully, not missing a beat.

I rolled my eyes before getting the confidence to attempt to turn the conversation into a more serious direction, "I think I'm going to tell her, both of my mom's. That I think I might be interested in girls in that way. I mean I'm not sure that I'm like a full blown lesbian but I don't know it would be nice to talk to someone about it. They could probably help me figure it out."

Brooke nodded her head slowly as she processed what I had just said. Whatever I discussed with my family didn't really affect her in any way. My mom would probably know that Brooke was the girl who had gotten my attention and was the first girl who made me have feelings that weren't platonic towards a female, but they wouldn't say anything to her or to anyone for that matter, both knowing that it is scary coming out and that you can't force someone to do so.

After a couple minutes of silence Brooke finally spoke, "You should. Your right it could help you out and I'm sure they'd know what they're talking about, they both went through this at some point right?"

I nodded, "I won't say anything about you though, I promise."

Brooke suddenly pulled me into a hug, which kind of caught me by surprise because we usually didn't touch unless we were completely alone and usually never in a place where people knew who we were. The girl pulled away slowly, "I better get going, I have some things I have to do, but I'll text you later okay?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later." I said as Brooke smiled and walked away from me. I watched her until she completely disappeared around a corner with one last glance over her shoulder.

 **[Paige's POV]**

I had decided to just grab the things from my office that I had originally came into the locker room for instead of going after Parker. I knew that I had made a mistake by bringing up Parker's sexuality even though it was unintentional and that the girl probably needed a little space. I wasn't completely sure that the girl was gay but Emily and I had always suspected. Parker was never one to be subtle when it came to looking at girls in a way that made it clear she was attracted.

Emily and I both decided though to let the girl come out when she was ready instead of bringing it up to soon just in case we were wrong in our suspicions or the girl just simply wasn't ready yet to express the way she felt. I sighed when I realized I was going to have to bring the slip up to Emily and that she would most likely be mad at me once again along with the rest of the household. I literally felt like I couldn't win these days.

I decided to keep my eyes out for Parker as I made my way to my car but never saw her. I hopped into the driver's seat and drove home after stopping by Emily's parent's to pick up Taylor. I followed behind a running Taylor and slowly entered the house behind her, cautiously looking around for any signs of Parker returning home before me. I walked deeper into the house still looking around but finally figured that the girl must not have come straight home after she ran out of the locker room.

"Hey." I turned around and caught sight of Emily walking down the stairs. She made her way over to me and greeted me with a small peck on the lips, "Hey." I responded.

"How was your day?" She asked as she moved to sit on the couch.

"Started off good, but went downhill rather quickly." I stated matter-of-factly as I walked around the couch to join her.

She frowned at me, "What happened?"

"Well I basically pulled our oldest daughter out of the closet and it definitely freaked her out." I said with a heavy sigh.

"I knew she was gay!" Emily exclaimed proudly causing me to look at her confused. "Sorry I'm still getting used to how you act when it comes to your children, but not the point, go on. How did that come up?" She asked a look of concern quickly replacing the previous look.

I shook my head trying not to laugh at the full grown woman sitting next to me who just got excited like a teenager because her gaydar was intact, "She made a comment about that girl I saw her with the other day and she just had this look in her eyes and that dumb smile you get when you like someone and I made a comment about her choosing Brooke out of all the girls in the school. She then freaked out and asked why I only said girls instead of boys or everyone I guess. I don't know, you know how I get, I was just worried because Brooke seems like the kind of girl who is going to break your heart and she definitely doesn't seem like someone I want our daughter to date Emily, she hit her! She literally beat our daughter with a stick Em!" I stated getting a little worked up.

"Paige settle down." Emily said as she scooted closer to me and soothingly ran her hand up and down my back, "We don't even know the whole story yet and who knows maybe she just has a little crush. We also don't even know if Brooke is gay and if Parker has any intention of dating her if she is. And if that is the case then we have to let her figure things out on her own babe."

I rested my head in my hands slightly rubbing my temples in frustration, "I know she's going to fall in love eventually and that she most likely is going to get her heart broken at some point in her life no matter what gender she's interested in but I want to prevent that if I can."

"You can't protect her forever Paige. Those things are going to happen to her. They happen to everyone and you can't stop it. But we can't force her to tell us anything, you know what it's like. Maybe she's scared to tell us or maybe we're wrong and she's not gay at all. Whatever the case is we're just going to have to wait for her to come to us, which I'm sure since it's out there now, she will soon."

"Your right. God I feel like such a jackass for saying anything at all." I grunted out as I stood up from the couch and began to pace around the living room, "Seriously what was I thinking. Coming out was like the most terrifying thing I've ever done to this day and here I am practically outing people."

Emily stood up and walked over to me cupping my cheeks in her hands, "Paige stop." She said quietly, "It's going to be fine. You didn't mean to say anything and you didn't out her, you just got caught up in a moments, everything's going to be fine."

I nodded as she leaned in to kiss me, "Your right." I mumbled against her lips, "You're always right." I said once again when she pulled away slightly.

"Mmm so you finally figured that out huh." She said slightly flirtatiously before teasing me. "Back in college I couldn't get you to admit I was right if your life depended on it."

"Well if I knew that's what it took to get you all hot and bothered then I probably would've figured it out a lot sooner." I states as I playfully lowered my hands that were on her waist down to her butt, squeezing gently.

A light squeal escaped Emily's lips as she laughed and attempted to squirm out of my grip. We playfully struggled with each other for a little bit stealing kisses now and then but it soon came to a stop when we heard the front door open. We pulled our bodies apart and sat back down on the couch as we waited for whoever was home to enter the living room.

"Hey sorry we're late, Parker took forever to get her things out of the locker room." Kacey said as she strolled past us and into the kitchen.

"Umm yeah sorry about that." Parker said as she walked into our sight shortly after Kacey. Parker's eyes moved from me to Emily and then back to me and I nodded knowing that she was wondering if I had mentioned our talk to her.

Parker nodded before turning her head to the kitchen, "Hey Kace could you go upstairs for a little bit, I need to talk to them about something."

"What'd you do this time?" Kacey asked teasingly as she made her way out of the kitchen. Parker gave her a pointed look before gesturing to the stair case, "Alright, alright I'm going." The younger girl agreed without another word.

"Thank you." Parker simply said as she waited for the girl to get all the way up the stairs before she turned her attention towards Emily and I. "Okay well clearly you both know what it is that I want to talk to you about and I don't really know how this works but I think I want to talk to mom about it first, if that's okay."

I looked over at Emily a little bit surprised that Parker wanted to discuss it with me first, without Emily there. Parker usually went to Emily for advice and help when it came to things like this. I just figured that it was simply because I was the one to bring it up in the first place and that she wanted to clarify things with me first.

"Of course that's fine sweetheart. Just let me know when you're ready for me okay?" Emily said sweetly as she moved up off the couch and walked over to Parker who nodded, hugging her tightly and then kissing the side of her head lightly before moving up the stairs to leave me and Parker alone.

I was suddenly becoming nervous, not really knowing what to expect. No one had really ever come out to me before if that was indeed what was about to happen and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to say exactly what the girl needed me too. Sometimes when I get nervous I don't always know the perfect way to handle these situations, but I wanted to be perfect for this one. I personally struggled with coming out and if my kid was going to come out to me, I wanted to be there for them and be able to take all the doubts they had about being gay or anything else away. I wanted to make sure they felt loved and that it was okay and that I would always be there for them no matter what, which I hope Parker already knew.

Parker slowly made her way over to me and sat on the couch. I could tell she was nervous as she began to fumble with her finger and we sat in silence. I decided to let Parker be the first to initiate the conversation that we were about to have, remembering what Emily had just said to me moments before the girls came home about not forcing anything. I reached out and placed my hand over Parker's in order to stop her nervous ticks. I rubbed my thumb across her knuckles continuously as I lightly squeezed her hand with my other fingers, trying to calm her down.

The girl finally met my gaze and I offered a small smile, letting her know that I was ready when she was and that there was no pressure to rush. This was it I thought as I felt myself hold my breath when I saw her swallow hard once and she licked her lips before taking a deep breath and finally opening her mouth to speak.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**

 **Okay so real quick, just wanted to let you guys know that I'm going on a trip and won't have any way to post while I'm gone, so I probably won't be able to post the next chapter for a week and a half or two weeks but I'll try to write as much as I can when I'm gone and I promise to post as soon as I get back home. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!**

 **[Paige's POV]**

"So do I just…do I just say it or?" The girl sitting beside me asked. "I don't really know how this whole thing is supposed to go." Parker admitted looking up briefly for guidance on how this talk is supposed to start.

"Yeah if that's what you want to do, whatever you're comfortable with." I said. "And if you aren't ready we don't have to have this talk now. Just because it was brought up doesn't mean we expect you to tell us if you don't want to just yet."

Parker's eyes moved away from me and back to her lap and I figured she was just trying to decide exactly what it was she wanted to say, if anything at all about her sexuality. We sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes before she looked back up at me. When she did I expected her to look more scared than she did, due to her initial nerves and hesitation. But when she looked up at me I didn't see much fear in her eyes. She looked a little nervous and her leg was bouncing slightly, but other that she didn't seem all that troubled. Nothing compared to the small freak out she had in the locker room earlier today.

"Okay then, umm I guess…" Parker paused for a second taking a deep breath and I could tell that the girl's nerves were picking up a little, "I guess I might be gay."

Parker's words came out as more of a question than a statement and her tone was far from the usual confident one that she tends to speak with.

"So you haven't exactly figured it out yet?" I asked curiously picking up on her hesitation right away. It was unlike Parker to question what she was doing. She was the kind of person who made up her mind about something and was confident about her decision right away whether it was right or wrong, good or bad.

"I definitely like girls in the way that you like girls, I'm sure about that, but how do I know that I don't like boys like that too? Maybe I just haven't found the right one yet?" She removed her gaze from me and returned it to my hand that was still covering hers.

"So you think you might like boys too then?" I asked already starting to get a little flustered. I was terrible at talking about things which is why Emily was the go to, but Parker chose me for this one for some reason and I wanted to deliver for her, so I figured if I just at least kept the conversation rolling without pushing her too much then we'd be okay.

Parker shrugged a little and I could immediately tell that she knew that she didn't like boys the way she did girls. So why didn't she want to admit that? Maybe Parker really was afraid of coming out and what people would think about her being gay.

"What made you start thinking about all of this?" I asked. I wasn't sure if that was something you're supposed to ask someone when they're trying to come out to you, in fact I had no idea what I was doing, I just figured we'd be fine if I kept the conversation going until we either got somewhere or she told me to stop.

"I've always kind of thought about it because of you and mama." She stated with a small sigh, "And I've never really have had deep feelings for a boy, I mean I guess I haven't had them yet for a girl either but I've kissed boys before and it's never felt like I'd imagine it would, you know?" She glanced up at me to see if I was following what she was saying and when she saw that I was genuinely intrigued, encouraging her to continue, she did.

"So that's when I really started thinking about it, after I kissed a few boys and didn't really feel anything at all. Honestly for a while I just thought that maybe I just hadn't kissed the right boy yet and that's why I hadn't felt anything for them."

"But then you kissed a girl?" I questioned. I didn't really mean to say it out loud, it more so slipped, but Parker nodded anyways not seeming to be bothered by me filling in blanks for her.

"Well technically she kissed me, but yeah then I kissed a girl." She said and when she moved her eyes to her lap again I could see a faint smile form on her face as she paused attempting to figure out where she wanted to go next in the conversation.

"And you felt something." I guessed after she didn't say anything for a while, earning a small nod from the girl next to me. I didn't want to push her so I waited for her to be the one to continue on if she wanted to.

After a few more moments of slightly awkward silence Parker finally spoke again, "That's when I really started to consider it. Or started to be honest with myself about it. Looking back I guess I always kind of knew." She admitted as she started to play with my fingers distracting herself from the moment, "I was never ashamed of it or anything like that cause I don't think there's anything wrong with being gay, but I just wasn't sure yet. Like really sure and I wanted to be before I told anyone about it."

I nodded in understanding before becoming slightly confused again, "but you still said that you 'might' be gay. So if you're still not sure then why are you telling me?" I asked gently not wanting to sound as if she had to answer my question if she didn't want to. "If it's just because what happened in the locker room and you're not ready then we don't have to do this. I don't want you to feel pressured or anything like that Parker."

"I know we don't mom, but I wanted to. I'm glad you said something." She admitted as she met my gaze, "I haven't really had anyone to talk to about it and I wanted to talk with someone to help me sort it all out but I didn't know how to bring it up." She said and I felt relief wash over me at her mention of me saying something earlier didn't upset her, instead it had actually given her an excuse to bring up the topic with someone.

Parker seemed to be thinking over the matter herself before she stood up off the couch and began to slowly walk around the room, stopping from time to time to look at me in thought before continuing to turn and pace the room steadily, which I let her do without a word.

Parker finally stopped in front of me turning her full attention to me and asked curiously, "How'd you know?" And I could hear her tone turn hopeful as if I could solve all her problems with a simple answer.

I knew my answer wasn't going to solve anything for her though, because her struggles with being gay and mine when I was her age were completely different, "Umm, well I always liked girls, I knew that I did, figuring out that wasn't the problem for me. The problem was that I didn't want to like girls because I was scared that liking girls the way I did was wrong and I was scared of what people would think or say about me when they found out that I did."

Parker nodded in understanding, "I don't really have a problem with that though, that's her problem." I was surprised that Parker had actually brought up someone else in this conversation. I was assuming that the 'her' she just accidentally brought up was Brooke but I decided to leave her out of it for now, knowing that Parker wouldn't want to talk about it and if she did that she would bring it up herself.

I redirected my attention to Parker as she continued to go on, "I'm used to people saying things. I'm not scared of my family knowing either because you and mama are obviously going to love me no matter what, so that's not a problem. And Kacey and Taylor aren't a problem either." I watched her as she paused, a small look of concern slipping onto her face.

I looked at her curiously as she furrowed her eyebrows in thought, a frown evident on her face, "What is it?" I asked not knowing why she stopped in the middle of her explanation as to why she didn't have a problem with people knowing about her sexuality.

 **[Emily's POV]**

I was sitting on the second floor off to the side, out of sight of the two girls downstairs. It wasn't extremely hard to hear what they were saying but when they chose to speak in whispers or light voices I was missing parts of their conversation. I was fully aware that this was probably a terrible move on the parenting side but I couldn't help myself, I wanted to know what was going on and if Parker really was coming out. I knew she would tell me eventually, probably even later today but I knew that she wouldn't go into as much depth as she was currently going with Paige and I didn't want to miss anything if I didn't have to. I was focusing as hard as I could on the voices from downstairs as they began to become low and I was having trouble hearing anything at all.

"Whatcha doing?" A whisper came from behind me, so close to my ear that I could actually feel the person's breath on the side of my head.

I grabbed my chest as I jumped and turned my head around quickly to find Kacey trying to suppress a laugh knowing that I was ease dropping on Parker and Paige.

"Doing something we're not supposed to are we?" She asked with a smirk, as I stood up off the floor, Kacey following as I walked away, "you know the best place to ease drop is from the kitchen. Voices from the living room echo great in there. Plus you can sit on the counter right up against the living room wall and snack. It's much better than the far corner of the hallway where they can't see you."

I rolled my eyes as I walked into her room where she had come from. Kacey continued to follow with a slight chuckle and lightly closed the door behind her when she entered the room. "Seriously what are they talking about down there that you find so intriguing?"

I shook my head knowing from what I had heard of Paige and Parker's talk that she hadn't told Kacey yet. "Nothing that you need to know about Kace." I said hoping she would just drop it.

Of course the young girl had no intentions of doing that though as she dramatically put a hand on her hip and tapped her chin in thought, "Hmm what could it be." She asked to no one in particular as she moved her narrowed eyes over to me before studying my face and repeating herself, "What. Could. It. Be."

I avoided her eyes, scared I would somehow give something away even though it was a long shot for the girl in front of me to guess that her sister was downstairs coming out to Paige. I leaned away from the girl when she walked over to me and grabbed my face forcing me to look at her. I swatted her hands away from my cheeks as I stood up and looked at the girl like she was crazy but she continued to study me anyways.

"Alright well you don't look mad, so we can cut out anything involving her getting in trouble and trying to get mom to let her off the hook before she tells you." She said before pausing to think, "And she would have told both of you at the same time fi it was the thing that you all were fighting about last week, so it isn't that." She stated pausing once again before her head tilted to the side and she studied my face again for a moment.

"You had that proud mom look plastered all over your face earlier when I found you in the hallway so it has to be good. But what's good that she'd tell mom and wait to tell you, that you want to know about so bad that you have to listen in on?" she questioned and suddenly her face turned soft and her eyes widened a little as a hopeful look came across her face with a small grin, "is she coming out?!"

My jaw dropped in shock that she had somehow came to the correct conclusion, "What, no. I didn't even know Parker was gay." I said trying to sound as convincing as possible but Kacey simply laughed at me as she plopped down onto her stomach on top of her rustled bed sheets.

"First off mama just for future references, don't sound so panicked when you're lying about something, it gives you away right off the bat. And second you definitely knew Parker was gay, the girl is not subtle at all about it, whether she thinks she is or not." She said casually as if we were speaking of the weather.

"Wait so you do know? I thought Parker just said that she hadn't told anyone." I asked as the girl directed her attention to the magazine that was now in front of her.

"She didn't tell me, she didn't have too." She said, never removing her eyes from the page she was currently on.

I looked at her waiting for her to continue and when she didn't I walked over to her grabbing the magazine and tossing it over onto Parker's bed giving the girl a look encouraging her to continue.

"Yes mother?" Kacey asked uninterestedly, oblivious to the shock I had about her knowing.

"Come on, spill what you know." I simply stated curious as to how long Kacey has known about Parker, who clearly didn't think that anyone had any idea.

Kacey sighed as she sat up crisscrossing her legs in front of her as I joined her on the bed waiting for her to explain, "I don't know, she's like my best friend, I guess I just know her." Kacey said seriously before laughing a little, "plus like I said she's not exactly subtle when it comes to her attraction to certain people."

"That's it? You just know her and you've caught her checking out girls, that's all it takes to convince you?" I asked, although I guess it was a reasonable explanation.

"Well I mean seeing her making out with a girl in the backyard a couple weeks ago is really what sold me, before that it was only just an assumption. Just like yours and moms." She said with a small smile on her face knowing that that was the information I was looking for.

"What?!" I asked a little surprised. "Was it that Brooke girl?" Her being the only female friend of Parker's that I knew about, I had no idea who else it'd be.

Kacey nodded, "yep but that's all I know." She stated. "Parker hasn't told me anything about it and honestly I didn't even know that Brooke was a lesbian until I saw them kissing that night. Hell I didn't even know that they were friends but it explains why she hung out with those guys for so long."

"What do you mean those guys?" I questioned figuring that this had something to do with Parker's school issues.

Kacey shrugged, "not my place mama."

I nodded knowing she was right and that I'd have to wait to find out more from Parker, "can you at least tell me about Brooke? Is she trouble, I mean should I be worried that Parker likes her?"

"It's not really Brooke you have to worry about, it's her sister and her sister's friends that you have to worry about. Those are the girls who mess with Parker and sometimes me if I get in their way. Brooke used to do it cause she had a problem with Parker too but now she does it because she's told to, I don't think she really wants to though, I mean clearly she's changed her mind about Parker or they probably wouldn't be making out in the backyard, but those are just my thoughts on it all."

"Why does her sister have a problem with Parker?" I asked not expecting to get an answer.

Kacey shook her head, "Mama I'm not telling you anything else about them. That's her business and I'm not going to piss Parker off again by spilling anything else about her previous problems. But like I said you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Brooke, she's kind of nice nowadays which I'm going to go ahead and guess is because of Parker."

"Fine." I said knowing that Kacey wasn't going to give me anything more than she already had, "thank you for letting me in on something though."

The other girl nodded and I started making my way back out of the room, "don't get caught." Kacey said and when I turned around she had another smirk on her face.

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room returning to my previous spot on the floor, trying to get into a comfortable spot where I could hear Paige and Parker like I had been able to before I was interrupted by Kacey.

 **[Paige's POV]**

My daughter opened her mouth but closed it quickly before words could come out, slightly shaking her head as she lowered her eyes to her feet, "Do you think grandma and grandpa would be mad?" She asked in a small voice not daring to look up at me.

As soon as she asked I knew she was questioning what my dad and Pam would think about it, considering the things she had grown to learn over the years about the struggles they had with coming to terms with Emily and I's relationship when we were teenagers. Honestly I didn't know the answer to that question. Of course my dad and Pam had come to accept that their daughters were gay years ago and everything was fine in our relationships with both of our parents, there was always a possibility that they wouldn't take Parker being gay well right away.

Parker was never one to care about other people's opinions of her, however she did care about her family's opinion of her and out of the three of our children Parker was the most concerned about making everyone in the family proud of her. So I of course wasn't going to give Parker a reason to worry about coming out if that's what she was on the road to doing.

"Of course they wouldn't sweetheart. They love you Parker, you know that."

"Yeah but they loved you and mama too and they still freaked out about it." She said matter-of-factly as she walked over and collapsed on the couch next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder.

I nodded knowing that the girl was right, "They did, but Parker you have to understand that all of that happened a long time ago, they understand now or they at least try to understand." I tried to explain as I wrapped an arm around my daughter and pulled her closer to me. "I promise they aren't going to have a problem with it, I won't let them okay. And you've seen your mother talk about the past with both of them, she would never tolerate them saying anything bad to you under any circumstance but especially this one."

Parker slightly lifted her head off of my shoulder to meet my gaze before softly stating, "Maybe but neither of you can stop them from thinking bad things about me." She concluded sadly with a heavy sigh and the look on her face as she thought about that made my heart break.

"I know it's hard Park. Trust me I was terrified of him too." I said as I recalled how hard it was for me to come out to my parents, knowing that my dad wasn't exactly fond of the kind of lifestyle I was living.

The thought of him hating me was terrifying when I was a teenager and I didn't want Parker to feel that way, but I also knew that there was no way to stop her from thinking the worst. The only thing that would be able to put her mind at rest was facing him at some point and finding out from him whether he would have a problem with it or not. I felt a tinge of anger suddenly come over me at the thought of him still having so much power over something that wasn't his choice or business. I literally felt like I was sitting with my teenage self, trying to convince her that her dad wasn't going to hate her and it still tore me up inside.

"What made you do it then?" She managed to mumble out.

"I just got tired of hiding who I really was from everyone. I wasn't happy. I was so worried about people finding out that I wasn't able to be in a relationship with anyone and I was miserable because I was scared all of the time." I said honestly, "and then one day I just said screw it and blurted it out to them over dinner."

Parker let out a small laugh that I probably wouldn't have noticed if her head wasn't right under my ear, "And he freaked out." She sighed out. "I remember you telling me the story a couple of years ago."

I nodded, "Yeah he did, but it didn't last very long. Sure he wasn't happy at first but he got used to it and he tried to understand all of it. You have to remember Parker, he was raised in a family that didn't believe in this kind of stuff. He's old fashioned and was from a conservative family. It was just new to him, but like I said he got over it. He's okay with it now, he knows that our family isn't any different from any other one."

I felt Parker nod slowly against my shoulder and when she didn't say anything I took it as a sign to continue, "Your grandma is fine with it too now. Your mom just talked to her about it when she got out of the hospital." I mentioned hoping that it would ease her worries a little.

"She did?" Parker asked.

"Mhm. Your mom didn't remember fixing things with your grandma so she brought it up again when she was staying at their house. Your grandmother feels terrible for the way she acted when mama came out to her, she wouldn't have a problem with you being gay Parker. Neither would my dad, they both adore you and you know that."

Parker nodded once again, "I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?" I asked cockily, hoping that it would make the girl feel a little more comfortable. She didn't like talking about her feelings and I didn't really either so having his conversation was a big deal for the both of us.

I smiled when the girl beside me giggled a little, "That depends. According to you, yes. According to mama, noooo." She stated while shaking her head and letting out another small laugh.

"Fair enough." I agreed before we fell into a comfortable silence. I waited a moment longer before my curiosity got the best of me.

"Is that why you just 'think' you're gay? You don't want to say you're sure about it because then you have to tell your grandparents and you think they're not going to be okay with it." I questioned, feeling like there had to be more to it than that, "I don't want to assume anything but Parker you seem pretty sure to me."

Parker shrugged as I let her think about my question for a little while before she spoke, "I'm pretty sure." She said, "About my sexuality, I mean. I think I'm gay."

"If you're so sure then why do you keep saying 'might' and 'think'? There's something more to this Parker, I know you and you're not one to second guess yourself about things that are big like this, so why don't you tell me what you're really scared of."

I was scared I was pushing her too far and was being to forward when she didn't respond right away. I had no intention of forcing her to tell me anything she didn't want to but I wanted to know what was really bugging her so I could help her out. It was hard to help when you didn't know what was wrong. I was relieved when she answered the question even though it took her a while to do so.

"You know how I am with feelings and things like that, it scares me." She admitted before sighing and pulling away from me so she could face me, "...She scares me."

"Who, Brooke?" I asked curiously, Brooke being the first person I could think of.

Parker's face quickly turned terrified and I kicked myself for bringing the other girl up before Parker could herself, "What?! Who said anything about Brooke?" Parker asked a little too panicked for it not to be the girl that was making Parker question her sexuality or I guess confirm her sexuality for her.

"Sorry. I'm assuming again, I really have to stop doing that, sorry." I said while shaking my head, not being able to learn from my earlier mistake and just keep my mouth shut. Parker seemed to calm down instantly and I was glad that all it took was an apology.

I waited for her to say the next thing not wanting to stick my foot in my mouth. I waited patiently even though it was taking the girl a long time to say anything at all. We must have sat there for 15 minutes before the girl looked up at me again and began to speak timidly.

"I'm not supposed to say anything." She said sounding worried.

"You don't have to honey. You did good today and if you don't want to talk about it anymore then you don't have to."

"You wouldn't say anything right?" She asked hesitantly, "if I talked to you about Brooke?"

I shook my head, "of course not. I'm not going to talk to anyone about what you say in this conversation, you don't have to worry about that, okay?"

Parker nodded before taking a deep breath, "Brooke's gay, but no one knows except for me." I nodded showing that I understood before she continued, "and she doesn't want anyone else to find out. She has the same problem as you did, I mean with the being scared of what people would say and think of her if she came out, especially her family."

"So you guys are...together?" I asked still unsure exactly where Parker stood when it came to Brooke.

Parker shook her head, "according to Brooke we're not even friends." I felt my eyebrows furrowing in confusion as I looked at the girl, waiting for an explanation. "When we first met we didn't really get along that great, we actually could barely stand each other to be honest."

"So then you guys hate each other and the girl you like isn't Brooke?" I asked not really following, once again the girl shook her head.

"No it's Brooke, I just don't know what we are mom, that's why I need help."

"Help with what?" I asked nervously. Here comes the part that Emily is for.

"With Brooke." Parker stated as if it was obvious, "she won't even admit that we're friends but we are, at least I think we are. We might even be more than that, I have no clue though because Brooke confuses me so much." She said with a frustrated sigh. "One minutes she's screaming at me like I'm her mortal enemy and the next she's looking at me like I hung the moon...ugh, she's just driving me crazy and I have no idea what to do because I really like her but at the same time I'm kind of tired of the whole thing."

I slowly nodded as if I understood what she was talking about and while I caught most of what she was saying I was a little confused and overwhelmed. "You're going to have to give me a little more kid, I'm a little confused still." I said deciding to just be honest instead of pretending to fully understand, "so you know she's gay but you're not sure if she likes you because she goes back and forth? But you might be more than her friend? So...things have happened between you two then?" I asked nervously.

"We've kissed before. In fact that's what led me to finding out she was gay in the first place. She just came up to me and kissed me one day." Parker said and by her tone and the look on her face she seemed to still not be over that one, "who does that mom?! I thought she hated me and we were in the middle of an argument and she just grabs me and kisses me." She says still shocked apparently by the action.

"And if you think I'm confused now, ha you should have seen me that night. And then on top of that she leaves without any sort of explanation and then she avoids me for days and finally when I confront her she gets mad at me." Parker looks at me with wide eyes and points to her chest, "me mom! Like I did something!"

Parker shook her head as another frustrated noise came out of her, "You can't just act like that especially when that someone you kissed and yelled at for asking about it doesn't even know for sure if she's gay. She confused the hell out of me and frankly I'm still a little confused and this happened months ago."

"Are you sure you like her because I'm still not getting it. It doesn't sound like you like her very much at all." I said hesitantly due to Parker's now agitated mood.

Parker sighed heavily seeming to have the weight of the world on her shoulders as she moved back over to the couch and sat down putting her head in her hands, "I didn't. But then she finally talked to me about it. She said that she was sorry for kissing me like that and I don't know she seemed kind of nice when she wasn't screaming at me." She said as she pulled her head out of her hands and looked up at me shrugging, "She told me that she was gay and we got into this deep conversation about her family and just a bunch of things and I guess after that I just saw her differently."

"I mean she's always been really attractive and everything don't get me wrong, but other than that I didn't look twice at her. She was kind of a bitch and I hated her sister so why would I bother to take a second look at her before. But after the kiss and everything I couldn't stop thinking about her mom."

"You got to know the other side of her? The better, nicer side?" I asked even though I didn't have to. It was written all over Parker's face that even though the girl drove her crazy she couldn't seem to shake Brooke and it didn't seem like she wanted to or had any real intention of doing so.

"The real her." Parker stated with a nod. "Yeah and that side of her is great, but it's a lot when she pretends to be what people expect her to be, the bad side of herself I guess. She's scared and I don't even think she's close to coming out." She stated.

"Is that what you're scared of?" I asked finally understanding the issue.

Parker looked up at me with scared eyes, "what if I come out and it changes things. I mean we finally got to this place where she acts like herself around me and is nice when we're alone. We're practically a couple when we're not around anyone. We kiss and sometimes she lets me hold her hand and stuff like that. Of course she's still a little aggressive when people are around but even that's gotten a little better. I don't even know how she really feels about me now though, the girl can't even admit that we're friends for god's sake. What if she doesn't want me mom? What am I supposed to do then?"

That's when I realized me and Parker were both pretty much afraid of the same thing. We were both scared she was going to come out and get her heart broken by the bad girl, who apparently wasn't all that bad, Brooke.

"Listen Parker, you can't base these kind of decisions on some girl that may or may not even like you. If you're hiding who you really are from people and you don't want to any more than that's your decision to make. You have to do what you think is best and yeah there might be some consequences to that decision, but I promise you'll be happier once you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not anymore." Parker nodded, "And hey who knows maybe when Brooke sees that coming out's not so bad she'll be more open to the idea."

"Your right it's not her decision what I do." She said as she thought about it for a second, "I think I'm going to do it." She said with a small smile.

I smiled back at her, "really?" I asked proudly.

"Yeah I think it's about time to do it, but maybe not everyone at once, you know. Just you and mama for today and then go from there. A couple people at a time." She said not wanting to get ahead of herself.

"That sounds like a great start, I'm so proud of you. And when you tell your mom I'm sure she will be too." I said as I pulled her into me, hugging her tightly. I pulled away from her after a moment and looked across at her, "okay you ready to tell mama?" I asked with a small smile.

Parker returned the smile and nodded her head, "yeah." She said seeming a little more excited than nervous to tell Emily, which made me even prouder of the girl sitting in front of me.

"Hey Em!" I called out in the direction of the second floor. Knowing Emily, she hadn't gone very far. I saw her come around the corner and trot down the stairs excitedly, "yeah?" Emily asked as if she didn't know what was going on down here.

"Mama I have something I want to tell you." Parker said as she waved Emily over to the couch, all signs of nervousness pretty much gone. Emily smiled as she walked over and sat down next to Parker, waiting for the girl to say what she already knew.

 **[Emily's POV]**

"I'm gay." Parker stated confidently as she looked at me, awaiting my response. I looked over at Paige who was sitting on the other side of Parker before looking back over to Parker with a smile, "Really, that's great baby. I'm so happy that you are comfortable with sharing that with your mother and I. We're both very proud of you." I said as I reached over and hugged her.

She returned the hug instantly, "thanks mama." She said as she continued to hug me. I slowly pulled away and looked at the young girl in front of me. I reached over and smoothed out her hair.

"Is that all?" I asked, fully aware that her and Paige's talk was a long one and that she probably wasn't going to want to have it over again with me right this second.

"Yeah for now. Mom can fill you in on some of the things we talked about, but I think I'm personally all talked out for today. I'm actually pretty surprised that me and mom lasted as long as we did." She stated as she stood up.

Paige and I both followed and stood up with her, "thanks for helping me sort things out mom, I feel a lot better now." Parker said as she hugged Paige again. Paige kissed the top of the younger girls head and returned the hug maybe a little too tightly but it didn't look like Parker minded, "anytime kiddo. I love you."

"I love you too." Parker said as she pulled away from Paige and turned to me, "and thank you too mama for understanding and being okay with all of this. I love you." She said as she pulled me into another hug.

"Of course. I love you too Parker." I responded as I kissed her on the side of the head and pulled away, watching her walk upstairs before sitting back down on the couch with Paige.

"So are you going to fill me in or what?" I asked excitedly.

Paige laughed and shook her head, "No patience." She teased. "At least save us both some time by just telling me the parts you didn't hear from upstairs." She said knowingly and I knew I'd been caught.

"You think you're so clever." I joked as I saw a smug look forming on her face after I basically confirmed she was right.

"Mmm well I am aren't I?" She asked as she leaned forward. I put my hand on her face pushing her away, "uh uh, not until you fill me in." Paige groaned as she leaned away from me and sat up straight again, "yeah not so clever now are we." I teased and Paige let out a small laugh.

"Alright so what'd you miss?" She asked.

"Well Kacey caught me right around the time you were telling her how you knew you were gay and I returned somewhere during the discussion about Brooke." I stated and Paige's face fell a little and I figured I must have missed something big, "what?"

Paige sighed and shook her head, "What, nothing. You didn't miss anything good. Just told her a little about why I came out." Paige was never good at hiding her feelings and I instantly knew that she was lying to me.

I looked at her questioningly, "Paige?" I asked hoping for her to just tell me, although I wasn't sure if I wanted to know based on the look on her face when she lifted her head to meet my gaze.

"She told me she was scared to come out to some people, but it's not a big deal, I talked to her about it." Paige said trying to get me to drop the subject.

I felt my jaw tighten when I came to my own conclusion as of who it was Parker was scared of that Paige wouldn't want to tell me about, "who?" I asked as I stood up, even though I didn't need her to tell me.

"Emily, calm down." Paige said as she stood up and grabbed my arm stopping me from moving.

I turned around facing her before asking again, needing to hear it before I did something about it, "who, Paige?"

Paige sighed letting go of my arm and rubbing her face, "you know who Em." She said and I just continued to stare at her waiting for her to continue, "My dad and your mom." She let out with a sigh.

I nodded before shaking my head, letting out a small laugh, "unbelievable." I stated as I walked over to the front door and grabbing Paige's car keys.

"Emily, what are you doing?" Paige asked worriedly as she grabbed me from behind again.

"I'm going to talk to my mother and then when I get home I'll be calling your father." I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my cool, but I was getting really angry. I couldn't believe that my child was scared of coming out because of our parents. I knew that wasn't the only reason but it was one of them and I was going to put an end to it real quick.

"And say what Em?" Paige asked and I stopped when I'd realized that I couldn't talk to either of them without outing Parker. I could now feel warm tears streaming down my face and I wasn't sure when they had started and I wasn't completely sure why. I felt Paige's arms wrap around me and I couldn't believe that our daughter was scared that our parents weren't going to treat her the same once she came out.

I remember how bad it hurt when Paige's dad made comments about me being gay and how bad it hurt when my mom gave me funny looks and tried to convince me that I wasn't really gay once she found out. I didn't want to out Parker to anyone, I wanted to let her do that on her own, but I felt like I had to protect her. I had to say something. I wasn't going to let either one of them make Parker feel the way me and Paige both did when we were teenagers.

"I don't know Paige, but I feel like I have to do something. Isn't that our job as parents? To protect them and make sure that other people don't hurt them?" I asked still a little angry that they had this power.

"Listen Emily, I talked to her. Is she scared? Sure, but there's nothing that we can do to change their minds and she knows that. I told her that." Paige said and she looked like she was starting to get angry as well, which wasn't what I wanted. "Sometimes we have to sit back and let nature take its course. Isn't that what you said to me earlier when I wanted to protect Parker from Brooke?"

"That's different and you know it." I said, although I saw her point.

"No it's not Em. Parker doesn't expect you to go full on mama bear on your own mother for her, she knows you would, but she can handle it herself. She's older now, she wants to do things on her own. I gave her a little push and she feels better about it, alright." I was frustrated and I still wanted to talk to my mother but I knew Paige wasn't going to let me out of this house under the circumstances, so I figured it was best if I let it go for tonight. I didn't want to make this about me and my experiences. This was about Parker and I knew she would be mad if I outed her before she had the chance to do it herself.

"Okay, your right." I said unwillingly as I tossed the keys back onto the stand by the front door. "I'm sorry I reacted like that." I said with a small sigh, "I just don't want them to hurt her. And I hate that they even made her feel, like how she feels isn't right even if it's just in her head. It's not fair."

"I know baby, but we can't do anything about it. No matter how bad we want to." She said as she pulled me into another hug. I wrapped my arms around her waist and let her hold me for a moment before pulling away. "How long do you think it'll be before she tells them?" I asked.

Paige shrugged as we walked back over to the couch, "I would count on it being sooner than later. I think she's wanted to get this over with for a while now."

I nodded in agreement, "I'm glad she talked to you about it, I don't think I could have handled it." I said truthfully.

Paige looked at me with her jaw dropped as far as it would go, "What?" She teased, "The great mama Fields not being able to handle a simple coming out talk with her daughter. My my my I think you've finally have lost your touch babe, that's right in your wheel house."

I hit her playfully on the shoulder as a big smile covered her face, "Shut up, you know what I mean. With the accident and all, it makes things harder. I'm still getting to know them and if she would have told me she was scared of our parents, I would have flipped out and I don't think she would have been able to stop me."

Paige shook her head, "They have more power over us than you give them credit for. I swear, wait until one of them throws a pout in your direction to make you cave. Brutal." Paige said teasingly but I bet it was true. I laughed at her, knowing that she probably gives in to a good pout every time.

"Well maybe for you," I teased back, "but for us tough parents, that's nothing."

Paige rolled her eyes, "Whatever you want to think Em, but I think that the accident may have turned you soft. I've seen no disciplining take place since you've been back."

I laughed knowing that she was right, "Maybe but that's because I just got back and I don't really remember anything. Just wait for it, I'm sure it'll come back after I get reacquainted here and I fall back into my usual self from before the accident."

Paige shook her head, "You mean when your memory comes back." She scooted closer to me and kissed me on the cheek as she leaned back and settled into the couch.

"Paige we don't know if that's going to happen, you know that." I said dropping the playful tone and looking at her seriously.

"No, what I know is that your memory is going to come back. I don't know when or where or how, but I'm sure it will." She said and she sounded so sure that I almost believed her as if she really did know. "Just give it time babe, it'll happen, we just have to wait." She said as she leaned forward and captured my lips this time before dropping back into her previous spot.

I sighed before settling down beside her, resting my head on her chest. I hoped that she was right and that I'd get my memory back at some point but honestly at this point I felt like we were going to be okay even if I didn't. I seemed to be falling back into things when it came to the three girls and with me going back to work soon, I feel like things can only get better. Soon everything would be normal again and maybe just as good as everything was before the accident like everyone had insisted. Maybe the accident even brought us closer and things would be better than they ever had been, which for the first time since I had gotten back seemed possible.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:**

 **Alright, at last the wait is over! Haha. Sorry that it was so long, I hope the chapter is alright. When I finished, it was ridiculously long so I ended up splitting it into two chapters instead of one, so I'll post the second part next week. Also since it was originally all one chapter most of the just Paige/Emily stuff is in the next part, so sorry about that. Let me know what you think, maybe I could tweak the second part to make it more enjoyable for you guys if you have any suggestions. Thanks for reading, enjoy!**

 **[Parker's POV]**

When the last bell rang I made my way to the locker room to get ready for practice, which wasn't for another two hours but my times had been off lately and I wanted to get in the pool early to swim some extra laps. I walked into the locker room and over to my locker working the combination into the lock when I was interrupted.

"Ah just the kid I was looking for." I heard my mom say as I tilted my head in her direction. She didn't look all that pleased and I quickly tried to recall any trouble I had gotten into lately, but I couldn't think of anything that she'd be upset about.

"Hey mom, what's up?" I asked casually as I turned my attention back to my locker, pretending I didn't see the look of disappointment on her face.

"I thought you said you were doing fine in your classes Parker." She said with a sigh, which was immediately followed by another one escaping my own mouth, "I am." I responded simply as I removed my shirt and tossed it into my locker.

"That's not what I heard." She said and I knew I was busted.

I hadn't been doing great lately due to some distractions, but at the beginning of the week I had been passing all my classes, well technically. Sure I had a 'D' in math and my 'C' in chemistry was hanging on by a thread but I had 'A's' and 'B's' in my other classes so I thought I was fine. I figured I must have bombed the math test that we had on Monday and it pushed my grade down to an 'F' which would officially make me illegible when it came to swimming. My thoughts were proved right when my mom outstretched her arm towards me and I grabbed the piece of paper she was holding out. "I'd put that t-shirt back on kid, you're not practicing until you get your grades up."

I looked down at the paper that displayed my grades which were exactly how I suspected they were. I shook my head setting the paper down on the bench in front of the lockers, "come on mom I'll get it back up, I promise. Why can't I at least practice?" I asked pulling my shirt back over my head knowing that my mom wasn't going to give in and let me swim today.

"You definitely will get your grades back up. I talked to your math and chemistry teacher and they both agreed to let you do some extra credit work, so go run by their classrooms and pick up the work and I want you to spend practice hours in the library completing that work, got it?" She stated firmly.

"Ugh, yes ma'am." I said annoyed as I threw my bag over my shoulder and shut my locker, grabbing the paper off the bench.

"Really Parker, you put yourself in this situation, don't blame me. You don't get special treatment because I'm your mom. You don't make grades you don't get to swim, rules are rules champ." I knew she was right but it didn't make it any less annoying. I simply nodded my head and spit out the politest "sorry, I know that." I could and exited the locker room.

I stopped by both of my classes and got the work that I had to do, which was a lot more than anyone led on, but I didn't really have a choice but to try to do it. I walked into the library which was completely vacant besides the librarian behind the counter in the front and a couple of students who were working on the tables spread out throughout the room. I immediately walked towards the back of the library, hoping that nobody was occupying any of the three tables that were buried behind multiple bookshelves in the back corner of the library.

I walked around the corner of the bookshelf that hid the tables and saw that they were all empty with the exception of a lone body sitting at the farthest table away from me. A smile crept on my lips and I was suddenly happy that I had a reason to skip out on practice today. I took a moment to admire the girl sitting by herself in a short pair of denim shorts and a loose fitting charcoal gray tank top. A small laugh escaped my lips as I watched her bob her head and tap her pencil to the beat of the song playing through her headphones as her mouth moved wordlessly to the song. I walked around to the side of the table that she was on and made my way over to her trying not to be detected, which wasn't very hard considering that she was listening to her music and seemed to be extremely concentrated on the work in front of her. I walked up behind her and pulled one of the headphones out of her ears, "hey nerd!" I exclaimed rather loud causing the girl to jump.

I threw my head back in laughter, not ever having many opportunities to sneak up on the girl who usually did the sneaking, "okay I see why that can be fun." I said honestly.

Brooke shoved my shoulder back before returning her attention to her work, "I hardly ever do it on purpose, you're just jumpy and that's not my fault. You however are just a jerk."

"Aww don't be a such a baby Brooke, it's harmless fun between friends." I said as I threw my bag on the table and mad my way to the other side of her table, sitting across from her.

"Which would be fine yah know, if we were friends." She said with a shrug, not bothering to even look up at me.

I sighed as I pulled out my books. "Seriously Brooke? I don't need you to be annoying today too, it's already been rough enough." I said grabbing her attention.

"I figured something had to have gone wrong for your day to end with you in a library." She said trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah I'm not too fond of this place." I said looking around. She nodded with a smile and I looked down at the papers in front of her, "But apparently you are."

She laughed a little which instinctively made my lips twitch up in a smile. God what I wouldn't do to hear that all the time, "Some of us actually try hard to get good grades."

I scoffed, "I try." Brooke rolled her eyes, "hardly." She said and I shrugged figuring that I guess I could try a little harder.

Brooke stood up, moving to the chair beside me and began to thumb through some of the work sprawled out in front of me, "Parker I thought you said you were getting this stuff." She said as she reached the math test that I bombed at the beginning of the week and was supposed to go back and re-due all of the problems I missed, which was practically the entire test.

"I thought I was." I said even though it wasn't entirely true. When Brooke tried to help me study for the test on Sunday night I had quite a bit of trouble focusing and told her whatever I had to in order to make the studying stop so we could move on to what she had originally met up with me for.

Brooke sighed and pulled out a piece of paper, writing down the first problem, "here I'll help you, but you have to really pay attention this time okay? No funny business."

I looked down at her as she pushed the paper in front of me and handed me her pencil, "Thanks B."

"Mhm." She answered simply before she began explaining what I was supposed to be doing.

 **[Paige's POV]**

Practice had just come to an end and I waited for Kacey at the edge of the pool as she finished up her last lap as some of the other members of the team made their way to the locker room. I had told Kacey that I would take her to look at dresses for the dance tomorrow since she hadn't had time to get one sooner. I had to find something for Emily to wear anyways, since I had signed both of us up to chaperon. We enjoyed dressing up and attending the dances every year. It may be lame but it slowly became one of our favorite things to do for a date night.

I watched as Kacey pulled herself out of the pool and walked over to me, "hey I'm going to walk over to the library to check on your sister, I'll meet you by the car okay?"

Kacey nodded as she grabbed a towel, "okay." She responded and I nodded, walking out into the school hallways and towards the library.

I walked in and glanced around but didn't see any signs of Parker. I walked over to the librarian and asked if she had seen Parker come in and she told me she saw her walk to the back a while ago. I slowly made my way to the back but halted before I fully turned the corner, seeing Brooke leaning into Parker as she used her pencil to point at whatever was on the paper in front of the girl. I watched as Parker's face studied the paper and focused on what the other girl was saying to her as her face scrunched up in confusion before it relaxed and she nodded, returning her pencil to the paper as she began to write. I smiled, maybe I was wrong about Brooke and she wasn't such a bad influence after all. I decided not to disrupt the two girls and I would just text Parker to let her know we left. I'm sure she wouldn't mind walking home if it meant she got to spend some extra time with the girl next to her.

I walked out of the library and to the car where I found Kacey leaning against the passenger door, "someone took their time." She teased as I unlocked the doors and she climbed in, "where's Parker?" She asked as I climbed into the driver's seat.

"In the library." I said not knowing if Kacey was aware of her sisters current situation with Brooke yet.

Kacey laughed, "Wow she actually stayed in there like she was supposed to, that's new. How pissed was she, should I steer clear later?" She asked knowing that her sister was easily frustrated by school work that she didn't understand and that having to do that when she was supposed to be practicing most likely upset her older sister.

I shook my head, "she actually didn't seem to mind at all." I said to the surprise of Kacey.

Kacey's wide eyed response slowly disappeared as she figured something out, "Oh I get it. Brooke must have still been in there with her." She said knowingly and I eyed her questioningly, "yes I know. Gosh why is everyone so surprised that I know something about my sister. My own flesh and blood." She exclaimed dramatically. "We're extremely close you know, best friends even. We tell each other everything." She finished.

"You caught them didn't you?" I asked casually.

"Yes. Yes I did." She said with a smirk.

I nodded, "in that case, yes she was in the library with Brooke. How'd you know Brooke was with her?" I asked not knowing where Kacey stood when it came to Brooke.

"Brooke does her homework in the library after school almost every day. She's in there a lot." She answered.

I was surprised that Brooke spent so much time on her studies. I didn't want to judge her by appearance, but she didn't look like the library kind of girl, "Are you guys friends, you seem to know a lot about her.

She shrugged, "I only have hung out with her a couple of times but ever since she's gotten…let's say close, to Parker she's been friendly enough with me. She actually helped me with some work when I was in the library the other day, but I think it's just because Parker told her to be nice to me."

I nodded as I pulled into a parking spot in front of the dress shop, "alright can we make this quick Kacey?" I asked knowing that Kacey would shop around all day if you let her, which is why I usually didn't shop with her, but I decided to take one for the team since I had to get a dress for Emily as well.

"If I find the right dress quickly then yes, but mom you can't rush anything, I refuse to settle for a dress less than perfect." She stated as she exited the car.

"So I should plan on being here for the rest of the day?" I mumbled as I shook my head following her into the store, "if that's what it takes." She responded as she started to look around with a smile.

Kacey and I went our separate ways in the store, both searching for what we were looking for. It didn't take me very long to find a dress that I knew Emily would love. I was pretty sure I had gotten the right size but buying things like this always made me nervous. I walked over to where the dressing rooms were in hopes of finding Kacey and held up the dress when I did in fact find her there, "what do you think about this one?" I asked.

Kacey turned around and a wide smile quickly covered her face, "wow mama's going to kill in that thing." She said as I looked the dress up and down, happy that I made a good decision, "who knew that you were capable of having good taste in dresses."  
I looked at my daughter, slightly offended, "hey I've worn a dress or two in my day, I know what I'm doing."

Kacey giggled, "Alright, I'll take your word for it. But seriously mom, she's going to love it. She loves doing all this cheesy stuff with you, it's gross but in one of those 'I wish I was in a relationship like that' kind of a way."

I looked at her not sure whether that was her idea of a compliment, "thanks, I think." I said causing Kacey to laugh.

"I actually kind of love that you guys do this whole chaperoning thing every year." She said as she walked into the dressing room with a handful of dresses, "I can't wait to see mama when you give her the dress and she gets a taste of your guys' little tradition," I heard her giggle again before she came out of the room, "she's going to have so much fun."

I couldn't help but get excited hearing Kacey talk about how much Emily loved things like is. She always liked to participate in dances and school events, most of the time really getting into them and although the first time we chaperoned was just to keep an eye on and slightly embarrass Parker, we ended up having a lot of fun. After that we just started going every year. Getting dressed up to go to the dance and then going out to dinner after, it was always a great night together and Kacey was right, Emily always had a lot of fun, we all always did.

"So what do you think?" Kacey asked as she smoothed out the front of the awfully short dress she had chosen to try on first.

"I think you should try on the next one." I said, clearly not supporting her first attempt.

"What, what's wrong with it?" She asked in surprise as she turned back and forth in front of the mirror, examining the dress.

"It's too tight, too short and there are a ridiculous amount of holes in it. I have underwear that covers more skin Kacey I don't even know why you bothered with this one." I said honestly.

Kacey rolled her eyes, "please don't start acting like an overprotective father." She said and I let my jaw drop a little in surprise as she walked back into the dressing room.

"I'm not. Your mother would've agreed with me on that one."

"Maybe but she would have at least humored me a little." She explained causing me to roll my eyes. I waited for her to come out not wanting to compete with Emily's obviously better shopping techniques and after a few minutes she emerged in a much better looking dress.

"There we go, that one looks nice." I said as I stood up and walked over to her to zip up the back of the dress.

Kacey smiled as she looked herself up and down in the mirror, "Hmm, maybe. I have one more to try on." She said as she rushed back into the room. "What you barely looked at the one you just had on." I said not really getting this whole thing.

"That's because I think the next one is the one." I nodded even though she couldn't see me, thankful that we wouldn't be here too long. I turned my head around when I heard her coming out. She turned around so I could zip up the dress and then walked over to the mirror when I was done.

"Wow Kace, you look absolutely beautiful." The young girl looked at me with sparkling eyes, trying to decipher whether I was just saying that because I was her mom, which I wasn't, "I'm serious." I assured her as I moved her hair over her shoulders and looked at her through the mirror, "Gorgeous, just like your mama."

"Thanks mom. I think your right, this is definitely the one." She said as she smiled to herself.

"Perfect, see that wasn't too bad, I don't know what your mom is always complaining about, you're not terrible to shop with." I teased as the younger girl hit me in the arm as she walked back to change, "She doesn't complain, mama loves shopping with me." She said truthfully as she came back out and handed me the dress.

"Yeah she does love it and thank god for that because it means I don't have to do it." I responded, earning a small laugh from her.

"Seriously I don't know what you and Parker are so scared of when it comes to shopping." She said with a chuckle, knowing that Parker hated shopping too and when she did shop she knew what she wanted and was fast about it, just like me.

"Whatever, let's just pay for these so we can get home." I said as I walked with the girl over to the counter.

 **[Brooke's POV]**

We had gotten through most of the work that Parker had to complete by Monday morning and I think she was actually starting to get the hang of some of it for real this time. Being in public really kept the...distractions to a minimum.

"Thanks Brooke, honestly there's no way I could have gotten all of this done on my own." She said and I always appreciated that you could see the sincerity in Parker's eyes when she was grateful for something you did for her.

"Anytime. This stuff comes pretty easy to me so I don't mind helping you out." She smiled and leaned closer to me.

"I find your smartness awfully attractive." She said and I knew she was giving in to the distractions that usually interrupted the studying.

I moved my body away from her, causing the other girl to frown, "sorry. It's just..." I looked around a little before Parker jumped in finishing my thought, "we're in public." She sighed, "it's fine Brooke, I'm sorry I just forget sometimes."

I nodded, "it's okay. I actually am glad you got in trouble and were forced to enter the dreaded library." I teased with a laugh, "we haven't been able to see each other much in the last couple of days."

"Well people who aren't friends usually don't." she teased back before she remembered something, "Oh that reminds me," Parker said as she lifted her hips off the chair and reached into her back pocket, "what are your thoughts on this whole thing?" She asked as she unfolded the piece of paper she had retrieved and sat it down in front of me.

"The dance huh?" I grimaced a little bit at the thought of actually attending one of these things as I studied the flyer that she had pulled off of one of the school walls, "Not really my scene."

Parker nodded not seeming to be too disappointed by my answer, "yeah I figured. It's not really my thing either, although my dance moves are killer." She said as she moved her arms in a wave motion before beginning to sway, doing god knows what with her arms.

I laughed knowing that Parker couldn't dance to a beat if her life depended on it, although sometimes she was so confident in her bad dancing that it almost made it look like she knew what she was doing.

"Stick to swimming." I teased before I held up the flyer to show Parker, "you do know that this dance is tomorrow night right? I don't usually attend these things but I'm pretty sure you are supposed to ask well in advance."

"Seriously Brooke? We're both closeted lesbians." She responded, looking at me like I was an idiot, "I knew you weren't going to want to go with me."

"Parker!" I said as I looked around the room panicked, making sure no one was in hearing distance of us, "keep your voice down would you, gosh."

Parker turned in her chair and gestured around our table, "are you kidding me Brooke, we're in the farthest corner of the library, surrounded by bookshelves. No one can even see us back here." She said clearly annoyed, "plus school has been out for hours already, when I came in here there were like five people in here, I'm sure you're the only nerd left in this entire place." She teased.

I nodded as I returned my attention to her, "I just want to keep my business to myself, that's all." I told her truthfully deciding to change the subject back to what it originally was, "So why'd you bother to bring it up anyways?" I asked curiously as I began to reach across the table and put my things in my bag, "if you were so sure I was going to say no, then what's the point."

"Mmm that's the best part." She said excitedly and I looked up to find a smirking Parker, "go on." I said suddenly extremely interested in the girl's intentions.

"Since Kacey's going to the dance and both of my moms are chaperoning, I will have the house all to myself." She said as she lifted her eyebrows suggestively.

"What about Taylor?" I asked and her smile instantly was cleared from her face and I knew she had forgotten about the little girl in all the excitement and that she'd most likely have to watch her since everyone else was going to be gone.

"Hmm small speed bump, but I have a whole day to figure it out. I got this, don't worry all you have to do is show up." She said trying to sound confident in her plans, "Leave the rest to me."

She tended to be one of those people who just did things spontaneously, I don't think I had ever actually seen her plan anything besides maybe her training sessions. She didn't think things through, she just did something and if she ran into a problem well then she'd just kind of wing it and solve it when it popped up.

I nodded, "whatever you say." I said as I finished putting all of my things in my bag and turned to face her, "So if I do decide to show up, what did you have in mind?" I asked already knowing.

"I was thinking that we could do a little dance of our own, maybe one that's a little more I don't know…" she looked up in thought before finishing, "...horizontal." She finally said leaning her body in closer to mine and I couldn't help but smile.

"And what makes you so sure that I would want to partake in this...this dance of yours? I mean we aren't even friends after all, remember." I teased.

Parker scoffed as she mocked disappointment and swung her bag over her shoulder, "right, totally forgot about that." she said as she abruptly stood up and pushed her chair in, "Well in that case forget I said anything." She said playfully as she began to walk away.

"7 work?" I called out after her.

"See yah then." She said cockily not even bothering to turn around as she disappeared into the front of the library. I didn't even try to hide the giant smile that appeared on my face as I stood up and copied Parker's path out of the library.

By the time I got around the corner of the shelf Parker was nowhere in sight and I was happy that I was going to get some alone time with the girl. This little study session was the first time I'd seen her since Sundays study session, besides the occasional passing in the halls of course but that wasn't enough these days. And as much as I hate to admit that this is probably the closest I've ever gotten to someone, it was true and it scared me to death that not only was she my friend but much more.  
 **  
[Emily's POV]**

I heard the front door open and turned my head up in the direction of the living room entrance as I saw Kacey come into my view carrying a box, "hey mama." She said as she tossed her swimming bag towards the end of the stairs along with her book bag. "Hey honey, what do you have there?" I asked curiously.

Kacey simply smirked at me, "you'll find out soon enough." She said and I raised an eyebrow not knowing exactly what she meant, "don't worry, you're going to absolutely love it." She assured me as she turned to walk into the kitchen, box still in hand.  
I let it go as Paige emerged shortly after, "Hey Em." She said as she walked over to kiss the top of my head before walking straight to the stairs.

I moved my head in the other direction to follow Paige as she made her way up the stairs caring a box exactly like Kacey's. I stood up off the couch and curiously followed after her climbing the stairs quickly and entering our room, "what's that?" I asked as I walked towards the box now sitting on our bed as I heard Paige shuffling around in the closet.

"It's your dress for Friday." She said simply as she came back out to join me in front of the box.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I looked at her, "what's on Friday?" I asked trying to recall if she had told me about us having plans.

"It's our date night." She said excitedly, "Since we couldn't go the other day because we got into that whole coming out thing with Parker I thought this would be perfect."

"What would be perfect? Where are we going that I need a new dress?" I asked still not following as I lifted the lid off the box to see what the dress inside looked like hoping it would give me some sort of clue.

Paige palmed her forehead, the smacking sound gaining my attention as I looked over at her before I got a chance to see the dress, "shit I'm sorry Em I totally forgot to tell you didn't I?" She said and I just looked at her curiously, "we're both chaperoning the school dance tomorrow." She said.

I laughed a little, "That's your idea of a date night?" I asked, "A high school dance, haven't we been to enough of those Paige." I said half teasing, half serious. Attending a dance with high school kids as a chaperone didn't seem like a great date night for adults our age.

Paige face instantly fell into a frown, "we've gone every year since Parker was a freshman." She said and it surprised me that we were that couple, "you usually love it. We dress up and we dance and then after we go out to dinner. It's like I don't know, being young again or something." I watched as she tried to take the slight curveball I threw her with ease, "But your right," She said as she shook her head, "it's stupid, if you don't want to go that's fine, I just thought you would want to go like you usually do." She shrugged and I could tell that I had unintentionally shot down something that we had done for years, at the same time upsetting Paige even though she was doing her best to hide it.

"Paige, I'm sorry I didn't know it was a thing. I didn't mean to brush it off as stupid or anything like that, I'd love to go." I said trying to recover just as quickly as her.

Paige shook her head again as she grabbed the box and walked it over to the closet, "it's fine Emily, really. I should've asked, I forgot that you..." I watched as she came out of the closet, struggling to find the right words, "you...I don't know I just forgot that you wouldn't remember I guess." She said as she rubbed at her temple and dipped her head down.

This was the moment I realized how hard this all was for Paige. Of course she seemed fine and the few times she has shown that she's struggling it had never been clearly tied to me and the fact that I couldn't remember a great chunk of our time together. I kicked myself for being selfish and focusing on how hard it was for me and hardly stopping to consider how hard it may be for her. I knew she would never say it but I wasn't the same person I was the day I got in that accident. She knew that, the kids knew that, hell even I knew that and I knew it was hard.

"Paige don't do that." I said as I walked over to her, "I want to do everything that we did together that I can't remember anymore." I lifted her chin with my finger and forced her to look at me, but regretted it instantly when I saw the reason she had looked away in the first place. The hurt in her eyes was apparent as tears slowly streamed down her face and more threatened to slip out.

"I don't know why I'm crying." She said as she let out a desperate attempt of a chuckle, "you're right it's just a stupid dance, it's not even a big deal. I'm being ridiculous." She admitted as she leaned away from my touch. I was about to reassure her that she wasn't being ridiculous when I heard someone push through the half shut door of our bedroom.

"Hey mom do y-" I watched as Kacey stopped in the doorway cutting herself off when she lifted her head, her face dropping as she looked between me and Paige.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her question mostly being directed towards Paige who shook her head as she inhaled deeply and turned her head away from Kacey attempting to pull herself together, "nothing's wrong Kacey can you just give us a minute." Paige managed to get out, but the younger girl shook her head as she took her attention off of Paige and back onto me.

"What'd you do?" She asked, her tone clearly upset and far louder than the soft voice that she used to ask Paige what was wrong moments before.

I didn't know what to say as I stared back at her, "she didn't do anything Kacey, I'm fine." Paige said and I was thankful that she answered Kacey's question for me, but once again she shook her head, refusing to leave, "Are you guys fighting?" She asked cautiously as she made her way over to Paige.

Paige had brought her crying to a complete stop as she wiped her face once more, although her eyes remained rimmed red. Kacey reached her and wrapped her arms tight around Paige's waist as she buried her head into her mother's shoulder. Paige returned the hug, seeming to have needed it, "No honey, we're not fighting. I actually have no idea why I started crying, mama didn't do anything wrong, I guess it's just one of those days." She said trying to find a way to explain what the younger girl had walked in on and I knew she was being strong just to put Kacey at ease.

"She doesn't want to go does she?" Kacey asked into Paige's shoulder. When Paige never answered the younger girl figured she had received the answer and I knew that I had messed up. Kacey pulled back just enough to look at Paige's face, "you don't have to do that you know."

"Do what?" Paige asked as the younger girl pulled away.

"Hold yourself together for everyone else…for her." She said gaining my curiosity, "We're all tiptoeing around her and I don't know," the younger girl paused in frustration as she turned her back to Paige, walking towards the bed bringing her hands to her head sighing, "It may be helping her but it's not helping anyone else deal with this situation."

"Kacey I don't think this is the time to do this." Paige responded, clearly anticipating something from the girl that had happened before when it came to this subject that I had yet to witness.

The girl whipped around facing Paige again, "See this is what I mean! Why am I not allowed to scream and cry in front of her. I know that we're trying to make her feel comfortable and all that but it's been months since the accident and I can't walk around pretending like everything's fine anymore!" She said as she stormed out of the room.

I sighed as Paige followed Kacey out of the room quickly, "You couldn't just go with it Emily." I whispered to myself, knowing that if I would've just kept my mouth shut that I would've avoided this entire thing as I sighed and chased after the other two girls. I stopped halfway down the stairs as I watched Paige attempt to calm the crying girl down.

"Kacey I'm sorry. Nobody's asking you to pretend like everything's okay, I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to." Just as Kacey was about to respond the front door opened and close, drawing everyone's attention.

Parker came strolling through the door with Taylor by her side, not paying much attention, "I swung by and picked up Taylor since I knew you guys were dress shopping, but you all are here, so I guess I didn't have to walk all the way to grandmas and back, thank you for letting me know." She mentioned sarcastically with a chuckle, clearly joking and completely oblivious that the room was filled with chaos just moments before.

Finally after silence occupied the room for a while and the sniffles from Kacey's crying came obvious Parker looked around at everyone in the room, catching on to the fact that something was wrong, "Whoa what'd we miss?" Parker asked, the smiles on her and Taylors face dropping instantly.

Taylor left Parker's side and quickly walked over to me as I bent down to pick her up. One thing I had noticed since I had gotten back is that the little girl didn't like confrontation, she would always scurry off when people in the house argued and found someone to stay with as if they were some sort of protection to her, however Taylor wasn't aware that I was actually the main source of this fight.

Kacey shook her head, "Nothing. Everything's fine." She said clearly mocking Paige from earlier before she stormed past Parker and out the front door.

Parker's eyes followed Kacey out of the room before she turned back with wide eyes that looked back and forth between me and Paige, waiting for someone to let her in on the existing problem. She looked over to her mom first but Paige walked over and simply sat down on the bottom steps of the stairs, placing her head in her hands with a heavy sigh. Her eyes then moved to me for answers.

I adjusted Taylor on my hip as I shrugged trying to avoid having to speak at all. I felt terrible for the whole dance thing that went down with Paige and now I felt even worse for the way I apparently made Kacey feel and the fact that Parker probably felt the same, maybe even Taylor.

"What did something happen when you guys were dress shopping? I'm really going to need someone to help me out here." She said, directing her questions at Paige since she was the one who had been with Kacey all afternoon.

"No." She mumbled into her hands before lifting her head to look at her oldest daughter, who was waiting patiently for answers, "Mama and I aren't going to the dance this year."

"I said I'd go." I corrected, although it only received a slightly nasty look from Paige who was now openly upset with me.

"Wait what, why not?" Parker asked obviously surprised.

"She thinks it's stupid." Paige simply answered and I rolled my eyes, "That's not what I said Paige." I responded setting Taylor down and telling her to go upstairs, not wanting her to be around if Paige was going to start arguing with me.

Parker looked between us before letting out a laugh that slowly died down when no one else joined her, "You're serious? You said dance date night was stupid?" She asked me dumbfounded.

"Dance date night?" I asked causing Parker to shake her head and look away from me with a sigh.

She walked over, finding a seat next to Paige on the steps, "It's just a dance mom." She said as she wrapped an arm around Paige's shoulder, "She's going to get her memory back, you said it yourself. And even if she doesn't, we're still going to be okay, remember." She said and I could tell that she wasn't just reminding Paige but also trying to convince herself of these thing at the same time. Which broke my heart to finally see the pain my family was really in and that Kacey was right, they were all just putting on a show for me when I was around.

Paige nodded and kissed Parker on the side of the head, "Thanks kiddo. I'm just going to run outside and see if I can find your sister to see if she's alright, I doubt she could've gone far." Paige stood up and made her way to the front door quickly, exiting the house to go look for Kacey.

Parker stood and walked over into the kitchen in which I followed, "I didn't know the dance was that important." I admitted, "I wouldn't have said anything if I knew."

Parker looked at me in disbelief, "If you think that this has anything to do with you not wanting to chaperon at a high school dance then you're an idiot." She said simply as she tossed her bag up on the kitchen table before walking over to the kitchen counter and propping herself up on top of it, letting her legs dangle off the edge as she crossed her ankles.

I walked over and pulled one of the stools out from under the countertop, sitting down on it rather than on top of the counter like the other girl had, waiting for her to go on.

"This isn't about the dance, this is about you not being…well you." She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't know what you said to Kacey or what she said to you but, this isn't easy for any of us. Especially mom."

I stared at her as I waited for her to go on, not daring to say anything as the girl explained to me what was going on right under my nose. "I know you're usually the strong one in this relationship when it comes to you and mom, but since the accident, she's the one who has had to be that and it was a lot on us when you were gone."

"Look I know this is hard for you, but it's been months now mama. You're just going to have to deal at this point. This isn't a normal thing that people go through and it's hard on all of us, not just you." She said firmly before her face and voice became much softer, "I'm not trying to say that you've done anything wrong because you haven't but let's face it, we're a mess."

I shook my head slightly, "I didn't know you guys were struggling so much." I admitted honestly.

She nodded, "we try our best to hide it, but behind closed doors we tend to fall apart from time to time. Sometimes for no reason at all, it just kind of becomes too much. Especially when you were in the hospital and let's not forget the night you stayed with grandma and grandpa," she shook her head with a grin that surprised me, "that was a long one." She said with wide eyes and I wondered what went down that night but decided to let it go for now.

"Anyway, the point is that Mom's going to try to hold herself together for your sake...for all of us but she shouldn't have to." She said as she sighed, pausing trying to decide how much she should share with me, "it hurts, you know." She whispered and I could tell she was on the verge of a breakdown all her own, any signs of grins gone as the heaviness of the conversation hit her. "Not being remembered. Not having your mom knowing anything about you. It hurts."

I already knew it but hearing it being said out loud, in that tone. That look of sadness on your child's face staring at you as her eyes glossed over with water, made it more real than ever. "Even for mom. You remembered her but you forgot this entire life that you two built together and I know that it hurt her." I saw her move her hand to her face to wipe silent tears that had begun to fall slowly. "We know it's not your fault, it's not like you wanted to get in an accident or that you meant to hurt any of us, but it doesn't make it any easier."

I scooted closer to the girl bringing my hand up and rested my elbow on the counter as I rubbed my hand up and down her back encouraging her to say whatever she felt like she needed to. Parker brought the back of her hand up, wiping her nose before continuing, "She really loves you, more than anything, so when you don't remember things like, I don't know maybe a stupid dance that you two go to every year," she said clearly making it a point to emphasis that bit of her speech, "it sucks. And it brings up all these thoughts in your head that you've been trying not to focus on."

It surprised me again when the girl on the counter let out a small laugh, "you know Kacey cried in the locker room the other day because she found a note you had slipped in there before the accident." I felt my eyebrows knit together in confusion which the girl noticed immediately.

"You used to do that a lot. Slip a note in our bag if you had to leave for work before we got up and you knew you weren't going to see us all day or something like that." She explained with a soft smile, "You get hit with emotions over the dumbest things like that. She was just reminded of something that she lost when you got in the accident. If your memory never comes back, in a way, we don't get the person we lost back." She concluded as the tears started again.

"We're slowly starting to understand that we may never get those things back. The longer you go without getting any memory back, the less likely it is that it's coming back at all. You're still here but you forgot the little things that you do for us that we love. The things we do together that you loved more than any of us, like dance date night." She said and I finally, truly understood the biggest problem of all.

I was here but I wasn't the person who left this house the morning of the accident. They had all lost just as much as I had in that day and although they had the memories, I didn't. I couldn't do those little things that I always had for them that Parker mentioned because I didn't remember what they were and it wasn't fair to any of us, not just me.

I felt a thumb run across my cheek, making me realize that I had at some point started crying as well. I lifted my gaze up to find Parker looking down at me, "it's not your fault mama." She said softly and the sincerity in her voice just made more tears fall.

"I'm so sorry." I managed to choke out as the girl hopped down from the countertop and wrapped her arms around me tightly. I returned the hug and she allowed me to cry into her shoulder for a while until it had turned into light sniffles and finally stopped completely.

Parker pulled away from me slightly so she could see my face, "feels good to let it out sometimes huh?" She asked with a small smile, wiping my face once more.

I nodded and returned her smile the best I could at the moment, "thank you Parker." I said genuinely, figuring I really needed someone to help me realize what I just had.

Parker's smile grew a little and she nodded her head once, "anytime." She stated before jumping back onto the counter, "okay so now for the date night thing, you're definitely going to the dance, stupid or not, I don't care." She said and I laughed a little, nodding in agreement.

"Okay so before I help you, I'm going to need to get a little something in return." She said rubbing her hands together confidently with a smirk.

I scrunched my face in curiosity, "what do you want?" I asked hesitantly.

"I may not be attending tomorrow night's dance but I do however have plans of my own, so I won't be available to watch Taylor." She stated simply.

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion, having a feeling I knew exactly why she wouldn't be available, "and will these plans be taking place in or outside of my home."

I could tell that the girl was surprised that I didn't just immediately agree and nervousness clearly washed over her, "not sure yet." She responded cautiously.

I nodded, "I'll have Taylor stay the night at my parents' house, if you promise not to get into any trouble Parker. Your mom isn't going to like this." I said as I shook my head with a small smile knowing that Paige wouldn't like the idea of Parker and Brooke being alone into the house, especially knowing what we did every time we were left alone in our houses when we were their age. But I wasn't too worried about it, figuring that nothing to terrible could happen if they were left alone.

Parker smiled, proud of her small victory, "don't worry mama, after I help you plan the best date night ever she won't have any problem with it at all. And don't worry me and my plans will be out of the house by the time you get home so you guys can...yah know...do the thing that we don't need to talk about." She said shuddering.

I laughed at her struggle and nodded, "Okay so now it's your turn, what'cha you got for me?" I asked ready to do my best to fix what had happened with Paige earlier.

"Okay so here's what we're going to do..."

To be continued!


	16. Chapter 16

**[Emily's POV]**

Mine and Parker's planning was brought to an end when the front door opened and closed a little too roughly. We both walked out towards the stairs to see Kacey storm past us and straight up them, with a slam of another door. Not long after Paige came storming through the house herself just as the younger girl had, retrieving upstairs to our room.

Parker sighed, "Well their talk went well." She said sarcastically as she turned her gaze from upstairs to me, "she's not going to want to talk but you should go try, I got Kacey." She said as she jogged back towards the front door and back over to me quickly, "hey do you mind if I take her for a ride?" She asked holding out a pair of keys.

I looked down at them not sure of what car they even belonged to, "I don't know Parker, maybe you should ask mom." I said, not wanting to do anything else wrong today.

Parker shook her head, "she won't be mad, she lets me borrow the truck all the time. I have my license so it's not a big deal or anything." She said.

The girl appeared to be telling the truth so I nodded, "as long as your mom would be okay with it then I guess it's fine."

Parker nodded with a smile, "yeah no, she'd totally be cool with it. Thanks mama." She said as she turned around.

Before the girl could run off upstairs I grabbed her arm, forcing her to halt, "are you sure I should talk to her right now, I mean she's probably not very happy with me right now. What if she just gets madder, I don't want to do that. Maybe I should give her some space."

"Relax mama, if she needs to scream at you a little then you're just going to have to take it. If you avoid her though it's just going to get worse. Just try to fix it and if you can't well then you're just going to have to keep trying until you do." She said before moving upstairs into her and Kacey's bedroom.

I sighed and walked upstairs trying to calm myself down. I walked into the room to see that the bathroom door was closed and I could clearly hear the shower running. I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Paige to get out, hoping that maybe the shower would help calm her down before I tried to talk to her.

 **[Kacey's POV]**

I waited knowing Parker would most likely follow me up the stairs and was proven right when she came in and closed the door behind her, "get up." She demanded as she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a sweatshirt and tossed it to me.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously as I looked down at the sweatshirt and then back up at my sister who was staring at me, waiting for me to get up and go with her.

A smile ran across my face when Parker held up a set a keys, "we're going for a little joy ride." She said, a mischievous smirk on her face.

I cocked my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at her in question, "and is this a joy ride that we're allowed to be on or will we be stealing our ride this evening?"

"Well technically I was given the keys." She said and I stared at her waiting for her to go on, "however I was given the keys by the parent with brain damage who thinks giving me the keys to the old pickup is something that's allowed." I laughed as Parker smirked again, almost excited that she was getting into a little trouble.

"Oh, mom's not going to like this one." I stated as I shook my head.

Parker shrugged, "but I'm not doing anything wrong, I asked for them." She reminded me with the best innocent look she could muster.

I shook my head, "you know she's going to flip out park." I mentioned to her, a bit nervous about taking the truck without mom knowing. Doing things like this from time to time was more Parker's thing, not mine.

"Who cares, I'm already in trouble anyways because of my grades, so might as well go all out before I'm bound and chained to this room right." She said brushing off my hesitation, "seriously Kace I'm pretty sure this is what big sisters are for...take advantage of it."

I threw a playfully confused look in her direction, "No see I think you're supposed to set a good example for us little sisters."

Parker looked up in thought before looking back at me, "nope I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to show you how to loosen up and have a little fun and then take the blame at the end of the night, which lucky for you I'm willing to do." She stated with a small laugh knowing very well that this was a bad idea. But those seemed to be Parker's best ideas now a days, "so you in?"

I looked up at my grinning sister and nodded, "yeah I'm in." I replied, as I quietly opened the door and stepped to the side, "after you big sis." I said as I gestured for her to go out first.

Parker laughed, while tipping a fake hat in my direction with a slight bow, "thank you m'lady." And walked out of the room.

I closed the door gently and walked down the stair following Parker to the garage. We climbed into my mom's old pickup truck and opened the garage, starting it up and pulling out of the driveway smoothly. I was sure that we were going to get caught immediately because of the roar of the old engine that was I little too loud to miss, but at this point I didn't care, I was just happy to get away from the house for a little while.

"So this is what it's like to be the wild child?" I teased, "Seems fun." I said seriously, not having very much experience yet in the wild department.

Parker laughed, "Compared to you and Taylor it's impossible not to be considered the wild child." She said and I figured she was right.

Me and Taylor both followed the rules and did what we were told, with a few exceptions. Parker did too for the most part, but from time to time she wanted to have a little fun instead, so she did. Sometimes I wish I was more like her. She just kind of went with the flow and did whatever she wanted to for the most part. I was well aware that she had her own issues about some of her choices but being the free spirited child that Parker was had a certain appeal to it, even with the consequences that came with it.

Parker looked over at me when we came to a stop light, "so what's up with you, why were you so upset when you came back in?"  
I looked away from her and out the window with a shrug, "I don't know. I'm just tired of pretending all the time when she's around, you know."

I looked back over at Parker who nodded before the light turned green and she flipped a U-turn, "where are we going?" I asked curious at the sudden change of direction.

"I got an idea. Just trust me, it'll be fun and it'll make you feel better." She stated with a small grin on her face. I nodded and sat back in my chair as we sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride, nothing but the radio playing to fill the air and the occasional burst of someone singing when a song one of us liked happened to come on.

After about twenty minutes of driving Parker pulled into a dirt road and continued to drive for another fifteen minutes before she brought the truck to a stop and got out without a word, leaving the headlights on. I hopped out of the truck and walked over to Parker, who was waiting in front of the truck, "come on." She said as she gestured for me to join her.

I walked to the front of the truck to stand next to her, "where are we?" I asked a little lost.

Parker looked at me with a small laugh her face scrunched up in thought, "I'm not entirely sure to be honest." I raised my eyebrow in concern, which caused my sister to laugh again. "I mean I don't know exactly what it's called, it's kind of an off the map kind of a thing. Mom showed me it. I'm not entirely sure how she found it but it's pretty cool right."

I nodded looking out to where the headlights were pointed. There wasn't much besides a small lake, which had a fairly small dock that stretched out into the area of water. Other than that though there were just a lot of trees that sat behind the truck and a few spread out in front of us. Besides the truck, the trees, and the lake there was nothing but open space. If not for the headlights of the truck it would have been pitched black out here.

"It's pretty incredible." I said honestly, never having thought of a place so bare being so beautiful. It was rather peaceful not hearing anything around you but the sounds of nature and to feel like nothing could bother you. "How long have you known about this place?" I asked wondering why I had never been brought here.

"Not very long." She said, "Mom brought me here during all that stuff with the pills."

I looked at her confused, "Wait I thought she didn't know."

Parker shook her head, "She doesn't, but I don't know she just sensed something was wrong with me and she thought this place could help me sort things out on my own."

"And did it." I asked, "Help I mean."

"It did. It's easy to think out here because there aren't many distractions. You kind of get stuck with your thoughts…you can't run from them when you're out here. It's so quiet that you almost feel crazy cause your thoughts sound so loud." She said with a small laugh.

I nodded before looking back out at the lake, "Are we allowed to go in?" I asked with a smirk.

"Kacey it's freezing out here." She said as she looked at me like I was crazy.

"Oh come on Parker, you're going to be 'bound and chained' to that room of ours anyways right, might as well be sick." I suggested, which made her laugh.

Parker looked at me for a moment before sighing and slipping out of her jacket, "What the hell, why not?" I laughed and pulled my sweatshirt over my head tossing it on the hood with some of Parker's shedded clothes.

When we were both stripped down to our bras and underwear we took off in a sprint out towards the dock, running to the end of it and jumping off into the water. I resurfaced first and looked around waiting for Parker to pop up already shivering in the freezing water. Parker resurfaced soon after and I could see the chatter of her teeth immediately causing me to laugh, but due to my lungs gasping for air nothing really came out.

"T-that was a m-mistake." Parker said as she slowly tried to swim to the edge of the dock, grabbing it and pulling herself up out of the water. I followed her and accepted her hand when I reached the end and she helped me up. We were both shivering, laughing messes as we ran back to the truck.

We both grabbed our dry clothes off of the hood and went to our sides of the truck changing out of the wet undergarments quickly back into what we had left that was dry and climbing into the truck. Parker immediately turned on the heater and grabbed a blanket that had been previously tossed in the back of the truck at some point in time, tossing it in my direction.

"You know I brought you up here to talk and then we never got the chance." She said as she waited for the truck to warm up, both of us still shivering because of our wet hair that we were both going to have to suffer with on the way home.

"Good, I didn't want to talk about it." I said honestly as I wrapped the blanket around me tightly. "It's just I'm starting to think that mama's not going to get her memory back and it kind of just hit me tonight."

"I talked to her today about how hard it was for us…how we lost as much as she did." I looked over at Parker who placed her hand on my shoulder, "Be you Kace. Don't pretend to be fine if you aren't, trust me it doesn't get you anywhere. It's okay to hurt her feelings sometimes, none of us are going to be perfect and that's okay, but you're right, we can't keep tiptoeing around her."

I smiled at Parker, "When did you get so good at sorting out everyone's feelings?" I asked with a shudder, "it's weird." I half teased.

Parker shook her head as she pulled out of wherever we were and started driving on the dirt road, "Had to ruin the moment, that's supposed to be my thing you know." She said causing me to laugh again.

"Sorry." I said. "Hey since mom's going to kill us anyways, you want to make one more stop on our way home?"

A smirk crossed Parker's face, "Now you're going my speed kid." She stated as she wiped away fake tears and placed her hand over her heart, "I'm so proud." I hit her shoulder lightly as we both began to laugh.

 **[Emily's POV]**

Paige walked out of the bathroom nearly an hour later. By now I had already changed and had settled against the headboard of our bed with the covers loosely thrown over my lap as I watched TV. Paige simply walked to her side of the bed, not even bothering to glance at me and got in. She simply pulled the sheets up to her chest as she settled onto her side with her back facing me.

I stared at her for a while before sighing, "Paige?" I waited for her to respond knowing that she hadn't fallen asleep yet due to her breathing. "Really Paige?" I asked slightly annoyed when she never responded at all.

Paige let out a light grumble of frustration before rolling onto her back and turning her head to gaze at me, "what?" She asked irritated.

"Look I'm sorry okay? I know that's probably not enough right now but I don't know what to do." I said trying to be honest.

Paige sat up and shook her head, "Emily stop apologizing for everything. If you don't like something or you don't want to do something then it's fine, nobody's going to force you to do anything around here."

I knew that Paige wasn't going to talk to me about the real issues. She was going to continue to be strong for everyone, mostly me. But I also knew that she was telling the truth, that she nor the girls were going to force me, the new Emily, to do anything that I didn't want to, even if it was something that the old Emily liked to. But even if that was true I wanted to be what they wanted. What they needed. What they had. Parker was right, they lost just as much as I did, maybe even more and that wasn't fair.

"I am sorry though." I said deciding to discuss some of what parker had helped me discover with Paige, even though she was probably the first to realize it, "You all lost something that you may not get back. We all lost something Paige...someone. I can't be the person that I was. If my memory doesn't come back then the person I was is gone. Sh-"

"Stop!" Paige interrupted my small rant and I watched as she closed her eyes hard and rubbed at her face with her hands, "I just...I can't do this right now." She mumbled through her hands before throwing the covers off of her, swinging her legs over her side of the bed.

"Paige." I said as gently as I could as I scooted closer to her, reaching out to put my hand on her shoulder, however the woman on the other side of the bed shrugged it off immediately, standing up and facing me again.

"I don't know what to do either Emily." She said letting her voice become stern and slightly louder than her usual tone, "I'm trying to keep it together, but it's getting harder and harder every day for me to do that."

I watched as the woman that I had come to know in the last couple of months turn into a younger Paige that I had always hated seeing. The young Paige who couldn't handle the pressure of being something that she didn't believe that she could. A much younger, much more broken Paige. A very different person than the strong woman that she appeared to morph into throughout the years.

"We need to talk about this Paige, it's not just going to go away." I said gently, trying to get through to her.

Paige nodded, "I know." She admitted in a whisper, "but I didn't push you to do anything when you weren't ready, so don't push me."

"This is different and you know it." I said starting to get frustrated myself, "you're just avoiding it Paige and I just think it would be easier if we just put everything out one the table."

"Maybe you're right, but I can't do this right now. I seriously can't Emily. I'm not going to do it tonight no matter what you say so just let it go!" She said and even though she was talking louder she wasn't screaming, I'm assuming because she didn't want anyone to hear us arguing.

"Why not?" I asked, matching her tone.

"Because everyone around here is barely hanging on as it is Emily." Paige shared as she took a step towards the bed before continuing, "you don't get it Emily, it's not just you and me anymore, we have kids that need us to be there for them. Kacey's close to a breakdown because she's been trying to keep it together. Parker is failing math and is on the verge of also failing science, so she's temporarily suspended from the swim team, which if she can't get back on soon she's probably going to have some sort of breakdown too. And even Taylor is having a hard time with this because she's starting to notice that things aren't the same and for god's sake someone around here has to keep their shit together for them."

Paige stopped to take a deep breath before finishing, "So yes Emily, I can't talk about this right now, because if I talk about this with you I'm probably going to have a breakdown too and I just can't do that right now."

I stared at her kind of shocked by the rant and sat in silence trying to figure out what I needed to say, but instead of waiting for me to respond she walked over to the closet, emerging just as quick as she disappeared, this time with a large blanket under her arm, "what are you doing?" I asked as she walked back to her side of the bed.

"I think I'm just going to take the couch for the night." She stated as she grabbed her pillow and walked back toward the bedroom door, "I'm just not in the mood to do this with you right now."

"Paige!" I called out as she walked out and closed the door behind her. I sighed frustrated and wishing once again that I would have just shut up. But this time I didn't feel like I was completely wrong.

We needed to talk about it. I knew that she didn't like to discuss things because talking things threw with someone out oud made them real. It's what always broke her and even though she was right about the kids needing someone to be there, she needed to deal with her emotions and feelings as well. I stood up and walked out of the bedroom to follow Paige but once I was out in the hallway, I was met with Taylor.

The little girl looked up at me with big eyes, "I heard mommy screaming." She informed me in a whisper as her lower lip quivered slightly.

I bent down and picked the little girl up walking back into her room and laying her down in bed where she had been, "it's okay, mommy's just a little upset."

Taylor curled up on her side as I pulled her sheets up over her and sat on the edge of the bed next to her, "why?" She asked.

I ran my hand through her hair pushing it out of her face, "she's just a little upset that mama can't remember some stuff and its making me act a little different than what everyone's used to."

"Cause of the accident?" She asked lightly and I nodded.

"But I'm going to go down stairs and talk to her. It'll be okay." I reassured her.

"Promise?" The little girl asked and I smiled as I bent down to kiss her forehead, "promise." I said before standing up, "if you need anything just come and get me okay?"

The little girl nodded and I exited the room and headed back downstairs to find Paige. As I walked down the stairs I could see Paige lounging on the couch watching TV. As I walked into the living room and towards her she removed her eyes from the TV for a moment to glance at me before returning her attention to the screen, "didn't I make it clear that I didn't want to do this?"

"Yes but I didn't mean to upset you so much. I wasn't trying to start a fight, I was trying to end one." I glared at Paige when she laughed a little.

There was a moment of awkward silence before I spoke up, "Taylor heard us." I told her just so she knew, in case Taylor mentioned something later.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I just kind of lost it for a second." Paige apologized with a sigh, "what about the other two, I know they can be nosey sometimes."

I shook my head, "I don't even think they're here."

Paige turned her attention to me, raising an eyebrow, "what do you mean they aren't here. Where are they?" She asked and I instantly regretted giving Parker keys to anything. By the look on Paige's face I was pretty sure that I had made yet another mistake.

"Parker said that you would be okay with it if her and Kacey went for a drive, so they could talk since Kacey was upset." I kicked myself for listening to Parker and giving her the keys without talking to Paige to make sure it was okay. When Paige's eyes widened and she jumped up off the couch I knew that the oldest of my children had played me.

"What?!" She said taking off running to the garage, noticing that the truck was missing from its usual spot. I had followed her over and ran my hand though my hair with a sigh as Paige turned around to face me, "Emily are you kidding me, why the hell would you give her the keys to my truck."

"She said you were okay with it, I didn't know, she said she had her license and that you let her drive it all the time." I said starting to panic a little.

Paige put her hand to her forehead as she walked back over to the couch and plopped down with a frustrated grunt, "she does have her license but I don't let her go joy riding whenever she wants. And she definitely isn't supposed to be driving anything without telling us where she's going and definitely not at night like this. Plus she's in trouble for her poor performance at school right now so you know there's that too."

"Well I didn't know that she was in trouble for her grades at the time and she said you let her take the car all the time, what do you want me to do, I didn't know." I said not wanting to continuously be blamed for everything, even if it may have been my fault this time.

"Of course you didn't." she exclaimed sarcastically which really seemed to put me over the edge.

"You know what Paige, you're being ridiculous and I'm not going to sit here and have you act like you're one of my kids too. I know you're having a hard time with all of this but so am I and it doesn't help anyone with you being an ass about it." I said before turning around to go upstairs.

I knew that Paige was upset and all but she didn't need to be a jerk. So I made a mistake or two, but honestly what did she want? I've only been back in the house for a few months, I don't exactly know how things work around here. I walked back into our bedroom and picked up my cell phone off the bedside table, to call one of the girls.

I called Kacey's phone since I knew Parker may be driving. I wasn't really expecting her to answer but to my surprise she did, _"Hey mama."_ She answered cheerfully and I could hear Parker laughing in the background.

"Kacey give the phone to Parker." I demanded.

 _"_ _Sure hold on one sec."_ I could hear shushed voices arguing and laughing, clearly Parker knowing that she got caught in a lie.

 _"_ _Hey mama, what's up?"_

"What's up? Hmm let's see. While you two have apparently been having a good time I have been getting yelled at by your pissed off mother for the last hour over just about everything under the sun, that's what's up Parker."

" _Right, sorry about that mama, I just thought it would be good for Kacey to get out of the house for a while. She's pretty upset and all."_ Her slight playful tone weren't helping my already bad mood.

"It doesn't matter, you shouldn't have lied and taken advantage of me."

 _"_ _I'm sor-"_

"Just get home Parker. Now!" I cut her off not wanting to hear it. I just wanted everyone in the house so I could go to bed and hopefully have a better day than this tomorrow, which considering how bad today was, wouldn't be too difficult at this point.

I sat by our bedroom window that faced the front of the house and waited for the girls to show up. After a while I heard the rumble of the old truck and wondered how Paige hadn't heard it earlier when the two girls left. When they pulled into the driveway I headed downstairs.

When I got downstairs Paige was simply standing at the bottom of them, "I was just about to come get you." She said.

"I was watching for them." I admitted before both of our attention was drawn to the door that lead to the garage open and the two girls came through. I expected Paige to begin question them immediately but instead she stayed where she was.

Parker was the first to make her way towards us while Kacey stayed back behind her. "Look I'm really sorry I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I just wanted to get out of the house for a little while. I'm sorry." Parker said and I scoffed, which grabbed everyone's attention, including Kacey's, who for the first time since she walked in moved her eyes up off the floor.

"You're not sorry. You knew exactly what you were doing and you knew that it was a big deal. Seriously Parker after we just talked about how hard this is for everyone and you pull this crap." I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier and I knew I shouldn't get mad but I couldn't help it, "Why would you do that, this isn't a game where we can just lie and play games with me because I can't remember anything."

I felt Paige's hand fall to my lower back, "Emily, relax." I pulled my eyes off of Parker and over to Paige's concerned filled ones and took a deep breath as I wiped at my eyes that were now crying tears, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to get upset. I'm just really trying and this kind of stuff doesn't help."

Paige nodded before turning her attention to the girls who now looked a lot sorrier, "Look since it's been a rough day for everyone, I'll let you guys off the hook tonight. Parker you're already in trouble as it is so just try to be good from now on, please. And Kacey please don't make a habit out of these kind of things."

Both girls nodded in agreement, before trying to run off upstairs, "Wait, I wasn't done." Paige said, bringing both girls to a stop, "If either one of you pull something like this again or even think about taking advantage of your mothers situation it will not be taken lightly, got it. It's disrespectful and unacceptable."

They once again tried to scurry off but I grabbed Parker's arm, pulling her back to me, "And since you're in trouble with more than one thing, which is something you failed to mention to me earlier, I'm sure you will be free to watch Taylor tomorrow night."

"What?! Mama come on." She said clearly upset.

Paige looked at me curiously, "Why was she not going to watch Taylor?"

"She was hoping to spend some alone time with Brooke, but she clearly doesn't deserve it." I said and Paige nodded.

Parker grunted in frustration before moving upstairs. I sighed and faced Paige leaning my head down against her shoulder. I felt her arms wrap loosely around my body as she kissed the side of my head, "I'm sorry for acting like an ass earlier. It's not your fault and you're right, we clearly need to talk about some stuff and work a few things out."

I nodded, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't force you to do anything you're not ready for."

"Well if you didn't, I probably would never be ready for anything." She said with a laugh. "Do you mind if I sleep in our room tonight. The couch is alright and all but man I laid on that thing for about an hour and I'm already feeling it." She said as she pulled away from me and grabbed at her back, "I'm getting to old to sleep on the couch."

I couldn't help but laugh at her, "Nothing would make me happier." I said with a smile as I pulled her upstairs with me.

 **[Kacey's POV]**

The next morning everyone seemed to be on better terms. Even Parker, who had gotten some punishment that was unexplained to me when she returned to our room, seemed to be happy this morning. The day went by pretty fast without a hitch and before I knew it I was at home getting ready for the dance.

"Hey park, could you help me out." I asked as I opened the bathroom door.

"Yeah, of course." Parker said as she jumped up off her bed and walked over to me. I turned around allowing her to zip up the back of my dress. Once she did she put her hands on my shoulders, looking at me through the mirror from behind me, "wow Kacey you look gorgeous." She said as she moved her hands off of my shoulder and pushed some of my slightly curled hair over one of my shoulders.

I smiled knowing that she was being sincere, "thank you." I said as I turned to face her, "you really like the dress? I got it kind of last minute." I asked, feeling the nerves start to kick in.

"Are you kidding me? You're going to have every guy at this dance drooling over you. Which reminds me." She said as she walked out of the bathroom and into our room as I followed, dreading what I knew was coming, "this date of yours, do I know him?"

I sighed with a small smile, secretly loving that my sister was so defensive when it came to me, "no Parker you don't. But you don't have to worry about him, he's a perfect gentleman."

Parker looked at me questioningly, "if you say so, but if he tries anything with you-"

I cut her off not needing to hear her boys are nothing but trouble speech, "I promise I'll let you know and you can kick his ass. Don't worry I know the drill Park." I laughed at the proud expression on her face as she smiled approvingly.

"Aww my baby sis is growing up so fast." She stated as she mocked sadness and pinched my cheek teasingly.

I swatted her hand away immediately as I turned away from her, "we're practically the same age loser." I reminded her with a laugh.

"Hey whether your five minutes younger or ten years younger, I don't care. A little sister is a little sister, so just accept it." She said teasingly and I let it go with an eye roll, knowing that Parker took pride in being the oldest.

"Alright now for the most important part," she said as she darted across the room to the speakers sitting on the desk in the room, turning them on allowing music to escape them. She turned around and quickly made her way back to me with an outstretched hand, "I get first dance."

"Parker this is ridiculous," I stated although I was aware there was no chance of me getting out of it.

Parker's jaw dropped before a pout formed on her face, "Kacey come on, I'm not going to be at the dance and you always dance with me first." She whined and I couldn't help but laugh causing her face to twitch up in a smile as well.

"Fine but next year when you aren't at the dance because you no longer attend the school, this isn't happening." I stated firmly taking her hand.

"You say that now." She said as she twirled me around the room to the mildly slow song that was on and I waited for it to end, excited for what I knew she really wanted to dance to.

As the song came to an end we both waited in anticipation for the next song to blast through the speakers, "ready?" Parker asked excitedly, in which I nodded my head.

Suddenly the slow song was replaced with an upbeat dance track and Parker and I both began to dance uncontrollably, and most likely extremely badly. We burst out in laughter as we both became short of breath after a few moments and stopped, letting the beat in the background die down.

"Never gets old." Parker said as she sat down on the edge of the bed trying to catch her breath.

I nodded in agreement, "why aren't you coming, it's going to be weird without you there."

Parker shrugged, "I didn't have anyone to go with this year."

"Mhm sure that's the problem." I said knowing Brooke wouldn't be caught dead in public with Parker. "Well if she tries anything with you tonight, you just let me know and I'll kick her ass." I said receiving a laugh from Parker.

"I should've known you knew about that." She said as she shook her head, "sorry I didn't say anything."

I sat on the bed beside her, "don't be, it's alright. Just be careful okay." I said nervous that Parker and Brooke's relationship wasn't going to end well for Parker.

"Don't worry about me Kace. I'll be fine." She reassured me, but after all that Parker had been through with not only Brooke but the people around her, I couldn't help but be scared that Parker was going to spiral out of control if Brooke broke her heart. "You're worrying already, I can tell." Parker stated.

I laughed a little, "Okay, okay. I'll try not to."

"Have fun tonight Kacey." Parker said as she stood up, pulling me with her by the arm.

"Oh I will." I said with a wink before walking towards the door dancing, what Parker would consider, to provocatively for her 'baby sis'.

I laughed at the disapproving look on her face as she shook her head, "oh no, not that much fun. Go back to dancing badly. I'm refusing to let you use your hips in a sexual manner while on the dance floor." She stated as she followed me out the door.

We walked down the stairs to find my mom patiently waiting for Emily, "wow, looking snazzy mom." Parker said as she made her way over to my mom who was in her usual attire for the dance, which was a suit of course.

"Ah flattery will get you nowhere Parker, you're still in trouble." She teased.

"Darn, so I'm stuck with Taylor huh?" She said and my mom responded with a smile and a nod.

Parker threw her head back in frustration, "but mom, what am I supposed to do about the plans I had."

"I suggest canceling them kiddo." She said as she patted my sister on the back and walked over to me who was watching amusedly from the bottom of the stairs, "you look gorgeous as always sweetheart."

"Thanks mom, Parker helped me out." I told her.

"Thank you for being helpful Parker but it's still not getting you out of watching Taylor." She said catching onto us trying to get her to lighten up on Parker.

I looked over at Parker and shrugged, "I tried. Thanks for taking the blow though, I appreciate it."

Parker stuck her tongue out at me, "next time I'm taking you down with me so you can get the full experience of what it's like to get in trouble and not just the fun half of it."

"Fair enough." I said before turning my attention to the top of the stairs where Emily was finally emerging with Taylor trailing behind her, "well look who finally decided to join the party. Looking good mama."

She smiled and nodded her head in appreciation, "thank you Kacey."

"Damn mama work it." Parker said with a whistle. Mom walked up behind her and smacked her on the back of the head causing everyone to laugh, "Show your mother some respect." She said before turning her attention to Emily, "You look beautiful."

"Well you picked a beautiful dress for me to wear." She stated truthfully.

"Yeah I don't think it has much to do with the dress." She said as she pulled Emily in for a quick kiss.

Everyone laughed when Taylor, who had made her way over to Parker, made a gaging noise, "I'm right there with you Tay." I said before turning to my parents, "Seriously though, let's go before we're late."

"Alright." Paige said before turning to Parker, "Okay you know the rules, do not break them Parker." She said firmly with a pointed finger before bending down to Taylor's height, "And I already know you're going to be a perfect little angel so you just make sure your sister here doesn't break any rules okay?"

"You got it mommy." Taylor said as she hugged Paige and then Emily goodbye.

"So really Taylor is babysitting me?" Parker said teasingly and Paige simply nodded, "Do what your little sister says." Paige answered playfully.

"Aye aye captain." Parker responded with a salute.

We made our way out of the house quickly and shuffled into the car driving over to the high school. When we pulled into the parking lot I got out of the car and pulled Emily off to the side, "Parker put the addresses in your phone so just follow the directions in your phone and everything should be fine alright?"

She nodded and walked over to the front of the SUV where Paige was waiting, "Bye guys. Good luck, have fun on your date." I said before turning to go to the gym.

"Wait what is she talking about?" She asked as she looked between us confused, "Aren't we all going to be at the dance?"

"Nope." I said before leaving them to head off towards the school.

"You want to let me in on what's going on?" Paige asked as she looked at her smirking wife who simply shook her head and grabbed the keys out of Paige's hand.

"Just get in." Emily said as she climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. Paige looked at her questioningly as she climbed into the passenger's seat and Emily began to back out of the parking spot and pull out of the parking lot.

 **[Parker's POV]**

Once my parents and Kacey left I lifted Taylor up off the floor and walked over to the kitchen counter setting her on top so we were close to eye level with each other. I stood with my arms on each side of my little sister, "Alright Tay so what's it going to take for me to get you to bend the rules a little?"

Taylor shrugged, "What are yah gonna do?"

"Well you see, one of my friends was supposed to come over tonight so we could hang out for a little, while everyone was out but since I got in trouble moms said it wasn't okay for her to come over." I said trying to get her to understand.

"Is she nice? Can I play with you guys if she comes over?" She asked excitedly and I wasn't sure how Brooke would feel about it but if playing with Taylor for a little bit was what it took to allow me a little play time of my own with Brooke than I guess it was alright.

"Very nice. And we can play with you for a little while but you do still have to go to bed on time, so probably not for very long." I responded simply.

"Okay then she can come." Taylor exclaimed excitedly.

"And you won't tell moms about this right?" I said making sure that she wouldn't sell me out. The little girl nodded and held up her pinkie, "Promise, I won't say anything." I linked our pinkies together and smiled.

"You're the best sister ever, don't tell Kace." I joked, earning a laugh from the little girl. "Alright so what do you want to do while we wait?" I asked and the little girl smiled.

We played the game that Taylor wanted to for a while to entertain ourselves while we waited for Brooke showed up. Maybe about an hour after we started playing I stopped when I thought I heard something come from the kitchen.

"Hold on Tay, I think she's here." I screamed out when I heard someone knocking on the sliding glass door. I jogged over and opened it, stepping to the side to let Brooke in, "you do know there is such thing as a front door right." I teased as she walked by me.

"It didn't feel right. I'm used to sneaking into the house when I come over, the front door seemed too easy." She laughed as I slid the door shut behind her.

When she turned to face me confusion came over her face, "what?" I asked not knowing why she was looking at me like that.

"What exactly do you do when you're left alone" she asked as she motioned to my face and I recalled the "war" paint that I allowed Taylor to apply to my face.

I shook my head, "I'm not alone." I said before walking further into the house, "hey Tay come here," I yelled out in the direction of the second floor. When Taylor didn't come downstairs I figured she thought I was trying to catch her in a trap, "come on Taylor were on timeout, I promise."

"I've heard that before." Taylor's little voice boomed through the house and I saw her peak her head around the corner of the stairs.

I looked over to Brooke who was looking at me judgmentally, I shrugged, "don't look at me like, that I like to win."

"Oh don't I know it." She replied and smiled when she saw that the little girl upstairs finally realized that we weren't alone anymore. Taylor stood up and excitedly trotted down the stairs. I looked at Brooke with a small smile as she took in Taylor's appearance. She was dawning an oversized army coat and like me had black paint smeared across her face.

Taylor dismissed the last couple of stairs and jumped off the stairs landing directly in front of Brooke, "hi I'm taylor!" She exclaimed with a huge smile across her face. Taylor was a big people person so I wasn't surprised at all by her enthusiasm.

Brooke leaned down, resting her weight on one of her knees, "hi Taylor, I'm Brooke." She stated, sticking out her hand which Taylor took instantly with a smile.

Taylor whipped her head back to look at me when she let go of Brooke's hand, "Is that her?!" She asked in a loud whisper.

I laughed placing my finger over my lips shushing Taylor, "classified information remember."

Taylor copied my actions placing her own finger over her mouth while nodding to show she remembered before turning back to face Brooke.

"What's classified information?" Brooke asked the little girl, glancing at me quickly before looking back at the girl hoping she'd say something.

"You are." Taylor stated proudly, happy that she was in on someone's secret, "but I'm afraid that's all I'm allowed to say ma'am." She added in which I smiled proudly down at my little sister.

"Fair enough, I'll just get it out of your sister later." Brooke stated, standing back up, "so I guess you didn't have enough time to get out of it." She asked referring to watching Taylor.

"Oh no, I had more than enough time, but then I got into a tiny bit of trouble so, here I am in all my babysitting glory." I said as I ruffled Taylor's hair.

"Well it looks like you're having fun anyways." She said and I nodded.

"You want to play with us?" Taylor asked hopefully and I looked over at Brooke not sure if she would want to or not.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked, in which Taylor lifted her nerf gun that was at her side up to show Brooke.

"We're just messing around. Our moms don't usually let us play with this kind of stuff in the house because we tend to break things, so when they're out we take full advantage." I said, walking over to the couch and grabbing my nerf gun and handing it to her, "come on it's fun,"

Brooke nodded, "yeah okay, sure."

"Yay!" Taylor exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed Brooke's hand and led her back into the kitchen, "we have to give her some war paint." She said as she let go of Brooke's hand once they got near the counter and walked over to the garage where the paint was.

Taylor barged back into the kitchen where Brooke was waiting moments later, "ready?" She asked excitedly as she hoisted the black face paint into the air.

Brooke shrugged and looked over at me, "do I have a choice but to be?"

I shook my head and gestured for her to hop up on the counter before looking down at Taylor, "here why don't you let me do it Tay." I said as I grabbed the bottle from her hands while Brooke slipped out of her jacket and hopped up on the counter unwillingly.

I wiggled myself in between Brooke's legs as they hung off the counter and began applying the black paint under her eyes. I could feel her studying my face as I concentrated on the paint as Taylor moved around behind me, trying to see Brooke's face.

"Stop." I whispered not moving my eyes from the paint I was applying.

"What?" She asked and I let my eyes wonder up to hers, which appeared to be on my lips before they moved up to meet mine.

"Staring at me like that, it's making me nervous." I said truthfully before snapping the lid on the paint bottle shut and stepping back to admire my work. I looked back at Taylor who was waiting patiently to see the finished product of paint simply smeared from cheek to cheek straight across Brooke's face, trailing over the bridge of her nose, similar to mine, "good enough?" I asked and Taylor nodded in approval.

"Perfect." I said before asking Taylor to go put the paint away for me. When she left the room I turned back to Brooke, "sorry about this, I know it's kind of lame and that we had other, better plans for tonight."

She shook her head with a small smile, "it's fine Parker, I don't mind. She has to go to bed at some point right." She said with a wink and if Taylor hadn't walked in right after Brooke reminded me of that, I probably would have pounced on her right then and there.

"Alright so it's me and Taylor against you." Brooke said.

"Yeah, we get upstairs territory." Taylor said as she took off upstairs, pulling Brooke along with her.

"What that's not fair!" I yelled out but nobody seemed to care. I sighed and walked over to the living room to grab my nerf gun before realizing that I had given it to Brooke and that I didn't have one, "wait hold up guys I don't have anything." I called out.

Moments later I heard laughing and both girls popped out of nowhere and both girls emptied their nerf guns in my direction.

"Victory!" Taylor exclaimed as she ran over, jumping on me.

"Well that was easy, and didn't take very long at all." Brooke stated and I swung the little girl around onto my back as I walked over to Brooke.

"Yeah well that's because you two are a bunch of cheaters." I stated before putting Taylor down and gathered the ammo on the floor, getting ready for another round.

We played for a little while longer before it started to get late. "I believe it's bed time for you little missy." I said to the little girl and Taylor groaned, "I know," I responded, "but if I let you stay up all night moms will know and I'll get in even more trouble than I'm already in."

"Okay." She said accepting that she wasn't going to get out of it. I leaned down and picked her up walking up the stairs with Brooke following behind us.

I carried her to the bathroom that joined mine and Kacey's room with hers and set her on the counter and quickly washed the paint off her face. When I was done I picked the girl back up and walked into her room, tossing her onto the bed before grabbing an oversized t-shirt out of her dresser. She slipped the army coat and shorts off and put the t-shirt on before climbing under the covers willingly.

"Goodnight Park." She said as she leaned up to hug me. I hugged her back kissing her on the top of the head, "goodnight Tay."  
I pulled away and stood up, "goodnight Brooke." Taylor shouted and I turned my head in the direction Taylor was looking to see Brooke standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Goodnight Taylor, it was nice to meet you. I had fun." She said and Taylor smiled before snuggling down into her bed.

I walked back over to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I looked over at Brooke who was smirking, "we're finally alone and are free to do what you originally had in mind."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay don't kill me but I rearranged some things so the next chapter could just be the two date nights and nothing else really, so you guys have to wait one more week for those. I know I'm terrible but next week will be good I promise, maybe even some memory will return, who knows, anything can happen, so keep reading. And thank you for reading at all, I really appreciate it. I love hearing what all of you think so please feel free to PM me or leave a review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**[Paige's POV]**

I watched in amusement as Emily concentrated on the street signs, anticipating the next turn she needed to take in order to get where we were going. And although Emily refused to share where it was that we were headed, I knew we were on our way to a fancy restaurant just outside of town. We had been there plenty of times and I think she had forgotten that I would be able to figure out where we were going. I was usually the one who drove us places and easily recognized the directions a good while ago.

"You missed the turn Em." I informed her still just as amused, as she continued down the road.

"What?" She said as she looked over at me before returning her eyes to the road, "why didn't you say anything?"

I shrugged even though she wasn't looking at me, "Because I thought you were going to turn." I simply stated as she flipped the car around.

"Right." She sighed, "I guess I kind of forgot that you would know exactly where we were going." She admitted with a small laugh.

"Yeah I probably should've just drove, we could've gotten there a lot faster." I teased as she rolled her eyes and took the turn she had originally missed, driving the short distance to the restaurant and pulling into a parking spot.

We walked into the restaurant hand in hand and I was surprised to find that Emily had actually made reservations. We were seated immediately and I figured that there was no way that she had much time to plan whatever she had in store for tonight and was already impressed with what she managed to throw together.

"So how'd you get all this put together so fast." I decided to ask, truly curious.

Emily smirked, "I have my ways."

"Ah, not going to share your secret with me huh?" I asked playfully.

"Never. Where's the fun in that?" Emily countered.

"Fair enough." I said with a smile as a waiter approached us.

We ordered fairly quickly and the food was brought out to us surprisingly fast. What had surprised me more was that we had been sitting here for a while and Emily hadn't brought up anything from last night. I was kind of thankful though that she seemed to just want to relax and have a nice night, not worrying about it. I was brought out of my thoughts when Emily spoke.

"Don't get me wrong I've loved spending time with the kids lately, but honestly it's nice to just get away from them for a little while." Emily admitted looking a little guilty.

I let out a small laugh, "they're exhausting right?" I asked dramatically.

"Very much so." Emily agreed, the look of guilt being replaced with a small laugh of her own. "How'd we make it this far?" She asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.

I shook my head with wide eyes, "no clue."

"We did pretty good with them though didn't we?" Emily asked seriously this time.

"We did. They're all growing up to be very nice young ladies." I said with a nod, before shrugging, "Well so far at least." I added, hoping that none of the girls would ever stray into something bad.

"Is it weird?" Emily asked, "having them growing up, I mean." She added when she saw the look of confusion on my face. She shrugged and kept going, "Taylor's still young but the other two are already almost off to college."

What was weird was having Emily have to ask me a question like that and not having her just knowing what it was like. It was almost like they were just my kids and I was catching up with an old friend who hadn't seen them since they were babies or something. But instead of bringing it up I did my best to push it aside and just nodded.

"Yeah I can't even imagine them not just being around all the time." I stated honestly, "Everyone is always telling you how fast they grow up but it's hard to grasp it you know? It's like one minute they're five and won't let you go to the bathroom without them and the next thing you know they're these little adults and want to do everything on their own. It's kind of heartbreaking but kind of amazing at the same time."

Emily nodded with a grin on her face, "I like hearing you talk about them." She said looking at me lovingly.

I looked back at her curiously, "Why's that?"

"I don't know. It's just something new to me, hearing you talk about kids, let alone our own kids." I nodded still not exactly sure what she meant, "Just the idea used to terrify you and now look at you." She gestured to me with a giggle.

"Well once I got the hang of things, it wasn't so bad." I said with a smile, "You fall in love with them so fast and then before you know it you have two and then somehow your crazy wife convinces you to have just one more and before you know it you got a whole slew of 'em." I said as Emily laughed.

"So I had to do some convincing to get number three?" Emily asked.

"Not much." I said truthfully, "At that point I would've given you anything you asked for." I admitted.

"And now?" She asked.

"More then I would've given you then." I said honestly, "You somehow manage to make me fall more and more in love with you, even when I don't think it's possible."

I watched as Emily looked at me like I had put all the stars in the sky just for her. "I love you." She said and for a second I forgot that anything was wrong in this world at all.

"I love you too." I said as I smiled and leaned over the table to kiss her lightly, fearing if my lips were pressed to hers for more than a few seconds that I would get lost in her like I always do and wouldn't be able to stop myself.

We finished up the little food we had left on our plates and got the check. Even though we weren't necessarily in the right attire to take a walk, there was a pretty large park right by the restaurant and I convinced Emily to stroll around with me for a little bit, to get some fresh air.

I had one of my hands shoved in my pocket, the other one tightly intertwined with Emily's, while her other hand lightly gripped my bicep as she leaned into me. We had been walking down the paths in the park in a comfortable silence for a while when Emily decided to break that silence.

"So are we going to talk about it?" She asked, her hesitance obvious.

I sighed not really wanting to but knowing that she probably wasn't going to let this one go. "I guess if we have to, but could we just maybe go easy tonight?" I asked as I looked over at her. She nodded and we walked over to a nearby bench and sat down closely together.

I slipped out of my jacket and threw it over her shoulders as I realized how cold it had gotten. She gave me a quick 'thanks' before leaning into me once again, "So where do you want to start?" She asked.

"Well since you're the one who wants to talk about it, I guess we'll start wherever you want to and then I'll do my best to express my feelings or whatever." I said and Emily laughed.

"So we know where Parker got her fear of feelings from." She said and I smiled, "I am responsible for her good looks as well, don't forget about those." I said smugly.

"So modest." Emily stated causing me to laugh this time. As our laughter died down Emily pointed at me, "Okay no more distractions." She said giving me a stern look and I nodded. "Okay. Let's start with last night. You got pretty mad when I was talking about the person that I was possibly being gone."

I nodded, "Yep." I said not wanting to go there. Emily looked over at me in disbelief, "Really Paige?"

"What?" I asked.

"Yep?" She said, doing her best impression of me moments ago, "That's all you can come up with?"

"It's not something I try to focus on, that's all." I said with a shrug.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because why would anyone want to think about something like that?" I asked moving my eyes away from her, "I'm just trying to hope for the best here Em."

"I know but what we want to happen in this situation isn't really happening at the moment and we don't know if it ever is going to. I want it more than anyone Paige but there's nothing any of us can do about it."

"I know and that's the problem." I said starting to get frustrated.

"Yeah but it's not your personal problem Paige, you can't fix it and neither can I." She said and I turned my gaze back to hers when I heard her voice crack. I brought my hand up to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

"What are you so scared of?" I asked quietly, seeing that she was focusing on the fact that I was scared to lose the Emily I knew rather than on what she was fearing in this situation.

"I'm scared of the same thing you are." She responded, "I'm scared that I'm different." She said with a sigh, pausing for a moment, "I'm scared that there's a good chance that I'm never going to be exactly the same as I was and that that's going to change things between us."

I softly shook my head, not wanting her to be scared of not being able to be perfect, "No matter what happens Emily I'm still going to love you. I've loved you for a long time and nothing's ever going to change that."

"I know, but it's hard not to worry about it. I mean we're already fighting and I can tell this whole thing is starting to get to you." I watched her play with her hands nervously as she continued, "I understand what you're trying to do. What you feel like you have to for everyone else but you do realize that you're going to snap at some point right?"

I nodded knowing she was right, as usual. "First of all, we've been together for most of our lives, we've had much nastier fights than the one last night. Last night's fight was child's play for us, you know that it was nothing."

"Sure but it's only going to build up and get worse." She interrupted.

"Yeah I know and when or if that happens and I snap then we'll figure it out when it happens Em."

"How is that going to help us solve anything? We just sit around and ignore the situation until we can't anymore and you lose it?" She asked and I sighed still not really wanting to do this, "That's a terrible idea on how to go about this Paige."

I shrugged, "maybe but I don't know what else to do." I said honestly.

I had never had to deal with anything like this and she was right, I was starting to feel it really get to me now. I missed the old Emily. It was hard to not feel that even though she's here. But what could I do about that? Nothing I said was going to bring her memory back. Emily was right about that too, this wasn't a situation that either of us could fix at the snap of our fingers. So I didn't see the point in arguing about it. Which is what happened every time we tried to talk about this.

"Tell me how you're feeling. Tell me whatever you want to." She said as she reached for my hand and intertwined our fingers as she sank lower into me, "it's okay to not know what to do, none of us do and that's okay. But Kacey's right, we can't just keep everything inside for my sake. I bet that wasn't the case before the accident."

I laughed with a small shake of my head, "Definitely not. No one used to be scared to hurt your feelings, especially when you have to be the strict parent. Man giving out punishments does not go well for you. They may fear you slightly when you get mad but they definitely will try to fight their way out of anything anyway."

Emily let out a small giggle as well, "punishments not a crowd pleaser huh?" She asked causing me to laugh again.

"Absolutely not." I said seeing my opportunity to move the conversation fully away from Emily's wanting me to open up more, "Speaking of punishments though, you do know that Parker most likely has Taylor in bed and has Brooke practically alone in our house right?"

Emily nodded, "Yes. From what I've seen of her so far I have come to realize she's not one for rules." I shook my head to confirm her observations were correct as she went on, "so I sent in some back up to show her I mean business."

I raised my eyebrow in question but smiled knowing that this was something old Emily would do to Parker, that the younger girl probably wasn't expecting her to do tonight, "what'd you do?"

 **[Parker's POV]**

Suddenly Brooke lifted her lips away from my hips causing me to squirm beneath her, "What was that?" She asked slightly panicked.

"Nothing, just keep going, please." I begged.

We had been going at it for a while now and I was becoming impatient with Brooke's teasing. I could feel myself getting close and I couldn't stand it anymore, I was desperate at this point for her mouth to return to my body and was more than willing to shamelessly beg for her at this point.

Brooke looked up at me with a smirk, pleased with the effect she had on me, before digging her nails into the back of my thighs. Dragging her fingers down as she leaned down before gripping them steadily, slowly returning her mouth to my body, kissing and sucking her way across my waistline causing my hips to buck up in pleasure instantly. She didn't seem in much of a rush to get to the main event so I attempted to pull myself higher up on the bed so she would get the hint to move her mouth a little more south but I felt her smirk against my skin as she tightened her grip, refusing to rush or let me rush her.

"Parker!?"

"Mmmm don't stop." I hummed my eyes remaining closed as I gripped the sheets at my sides. I groaned when I lost contact with Brooke again, "Parker someone's here, that wasn't me." She whispered in a panic and my eyes snapped open as I sat up slightly resting on my forearms, finding a wide eyed Brooke in front of me scrambling off of me and then quickly off the bed.

I looked over at the clock, "my mom's shouldn't be home yet." I said frustrated, still feeling a twisting deep in my stomach. I stood up grunting in frustration as I slipped on a pair of Kacey's shorts that happened to be thrown on the floor next to me and searched for my t-shirt on my way to the bedroom door, finding it too thrown carelessly on the floor next to the door. I slipped it on quickly turning to find Brooke slipping her bra back on.

"I'll be right back. Don't get dressed, we're finishing this." I said sternly as I pointed at her, receiving a small laugh even though I was completely serious. I slipped out of the room, closing the door behind me as I jogged towards the stairs determined to get rid of anyone who may be here as quickly as possible.

I rushed down the stairs stopping suddenly half way when I saw my grandma standing just inside of the living room, "grandma?" I asked surprised, feeling my heart rate increase once again as I ran my fingers through my hair smoothing it out, hoping that I looked presentable.

"Hey honey." She said with a smile and I walked down to the second to last stair, leaning against the railing nervously, "what uh…what are you doing here grandma?" I asked.

"Oh your mother asked your grandpa to stop by and check on you girls to make sure you two were doing okay but he got caught up at work so he asked if I could do it." She said and I wasn't sure if she was aware that the only reason that my mom had sent anyone here was to make sure I wasn't having a good time and sticking to my punishment.

I brought my eyes back up to my grandma as she spoke, "Are you alright honey." She asked as she stepped towards me, a puzzled look across her face, "Are you feeling okay, you look a little flushed."

"Nope, I'm fine. Great actually." I said putting on the best smile I could, trying to calm myself down as she got closer to me.

"Parker?" She asked as she eyed me and I nervously shifted my weight off of the stair railing, bringing my hand up to my neck and dipping my head, trying to cover the marks that Brooke most likely left there, knowing they would be showing by now.

"Do you have a boy upstairs Parker?" She asked firmly.

"Come on grandma you know the rules," I reminded her, "No boys allowed in the house while you're alone."

"Yes. However I also know you're not the best at following said rules." She reminded me playfully.

I let out a laugh that was supposed to sound genuine but came out obviously nervous, "gosh grandma, always so funny, you are." I stated dumbly, shaking my head at my own stupidity as a frown formed on my face. Usually I was pretty good in situations like this but because it was my grandmother and I had a close to naked girl just upstairs, I was having a hard time staying calm.

The look of disapproval on her face let me know that I had been caught by literally the worst person to be caught by in the world. I began to wonder in my head if that was true or if it would be worse if it were to be my grandfather, hmmm definitely debatable there. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard my grandma call out, "excuse me young man please come down here!"

My eyes widened, "What?! Grandma!" I said, being taken off guard by the woman's sudden outburst. "I-I think everyone should stay exactly where they are." I called out, not as nearly as loud as she had before. I knew there was no way Brooke was coming out of that bedroom. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if she had crawled out of my bedroom window by now.

I blocked my grandma as she began to try to make her way past me, "Parker I'm sorry but he's going to have to leave, your mothers would not appreciate me ignoring this. This is probably why they sent someone over here to check on you."

I grabbed her by the shoulders and stood my ground directly in front of her, "Grandma nobody is here." I said as confidently and convincing as possible.

She tilted her head to the side giving me one of those 'are you kidding me, I'm not an idiot' looks, "tell that to your neck darling." She stated way more confidently then I had as she brought her hand up and grazed my neck and I realized I had dropped my hands when I grabbed her shoulders, leaving my neck fully exposed.

I sighed as she smiled victoriously, "Okay fine." I said not really knowing how to get out of this, "but I'll tell them to leave okay. You don't have anything to worry about."

My grandma looked at me thinking it through before nodding, "Fine but I'm going to wait right out here until they leave, just to make sure." She stated simply moving off the stairs but not much farther than that.

I sighed. How the hell was I supposed to get Brooke out of here without questions being raised about why I had a girl upstairs rather than a boy? I guess I could just go upstairs and if Brooke hadn't already climbed out the window I could tell her to. And then I could just tell her the boy got scared off and left on his own. I was in the middle of thinking all of the possibilities through before my grandma pulled me out of my current planning.

"Parker are you sexually active?" She asked out of the blue seriously as she faced me causing me to close my eyes tightly as I pinched the bridge of my nose, "oh my god." I breathed out hoping and praying that I would just die on the spot. "Oh my god." I repeated as I brought my hand up to my forehead, in disbelief that this was happening.

My grandma frowned with a long sigh as she went into her own version of mom mode, "Parker you're too young to be sexually active. Have your mothers talked to you about this, you could get pregnant, you don't want to have the responsibility of a child at this age Parker, what are you thinking." She asked sternly and I grabbed the railing of the stairs again as I felt the panic start to really sink in.

I was struggling to breathe evenly as I sank down into the steps sitting, eyes still closed and returning my hand down to pinch the bridge of my nose again. I couldn't look at her right now and I couldn't think of anything to say at this point as another "oh my god" slipped from my lips.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem ma'am." I heard someone say and I shot up to my feet, whipping my head behind me to find a fully clothed Brooke standing behind me. She had her jeans put back on and was now wearing my swim sweatshirt, with her previously loose messy hair thrown into a perfect ponytail.

"Oh hello dear, I'm sorry are you the one who was upstairs?" My grandma asked and I saw relief wash over her face.

"Yeah, sorry for the misunderstanding, I was just helping Parker get some of her school work done." She stated confidently as she pulled on the strap of my book bag that was flung over her shoulder.

My grandma nodded, now looking at me, "why didn't you just say so honey?"

I looked between her and Brooke a couple of times wide eyed and finally shrugged, still shocked at what was happening, "I don't know why but Parker gets embarrassed when she does bad in school, why do you think I'm here so late." Brooke said smoothly with a small laugh as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Parker there's nothing to be ashamed of, it's great that you're getting help." My grandma replied smiling between me and Brooke.

"It is getting late though so I better get home." Brooke said as she pointed to the door.

I stared at her in awe of how she got us in the clear so quickly and confidently, "umm yeah...thanks for the help?" I said still a little dumbfounded.

Brooke laughed clearly amused by my current state, "No problem." She stated before smirking at me, "I REALLY wish we could've finished."

My breath hitched as I felt my throat go dry, "Mhm, yeah we were…painfully close." I stated truthfully as I watched Brooke nod trying her best to hold her laugh in.

My grandma not paying nearly as close attention to us as she had been moments prior when she thought I had a boy upstairs, I leaned close to Brooke and whispered quietly so only she could hear, "Next time I'm getting off first. This is ridiculous."

She leaned in to hug me when my grandma refocused her attention on us, quietly whispering, "Looking forward to it. I can't wait."

I scoffed quietly as she pulled away not wanting the hug to linger longer than a friendly 'see you later' hug would last, "Yes you can wait." I whispered, "You got to finish so I don't want to hear it."

This time Brooke couldn't help but laugh as the girl turned to my grandma and nodded her head firmly, "Nice to meet you Mrs. Fields." My grandma nodded, "You too, honey. Sorry for the misunderstanding."

Brooke shook her head with a smile and threw a quick 'bye' over her shoulder to both of us as she made her way out the front door. I sighed thankful that that situation didn't end too badly. As soon as the front door closed my grandma turn back to me, "So is that your girlfriend?"

My previous state of panic and disbelief returned in an instant as I stared at my grandma opening my mouth with every intention to defend myself but nothing came out except another "Oh my god." As I grabbed the railing of the stairs once again to keep me on my feet.

 **[Paige's POV]**

Emily had told me there was one more surprise that she had in store for me. We got back into the car and drove back into town. We reached our destination pretty quickly, the car ride filled with small talk about nothing until Emily pulled the car over and turned it off.

"Okay so this one I came up with all on my own." She said excitedly as we got out of the car and she quickly came to my side. She began to walk backwards, pulling me along with her by my hands as she led the way, "since Parker kind of had to remind me of the places we liked and went most of the time. And basically planned our entire night, I thought that I'd add my own little twist."

"You have my attention." I sad truthfully, wondering where we were going.

"Well just in case my memory never comes back I wanted us to have a place that I actually could remember liking and being there with you."

"So you went searching for a new spot?" I asked amusedly as I watched her face scrunch up in thought before relaxing into a small smile.

"I suppose you can say that."

"You suppose?" I asked

"Well I more so found a random place and then made it special. Well I had some help but I did come up with the idea all on my own." She stated proudly and I couldn't hold back the smile that continued to grow on my face.

I recognized the place we were at but I didn't have the heart to tell her and I figured whichever, if not all our kids, who helped her find it and 'make it special' didn't either. We were actually fairly close to where we lived. It was a spot that the creek ran through, a lot of people knew about it. There was a tiny little cabin that was abandoned. It was nothing special and nobody paid much attention to it. The cabin was more like a shed these days and there were plenty of other spots to see the creek if that's what you were coming out here to do.

As she led me I wondered what she could've done to make it special but couldn't come up with much. I stopped when Emily did in front of me with a big smile on her face, "Okay wait right here." She said as she turned and ran off in the other direction the best she could in the dress she was wearing.

I looked around trying to see anything out of the ordinary to me. As I noticed the first strand of lights wrapped around one of the trees that was fairly close to me a bunch of lights went off. I smiled as I looked around at all the white lights that sloppily hung from tree to tree and some that were wrapped in a spiral down others. I laughed knowing that Parker and Taylor must have done most of it due to the no particular order of things. Kacey was the organized one when it came to things like this and she wouldn't have allowed them to hang them without a particular plan or pattern.

I looked over in the direction Emily went and saw her come out of the small cabin with an old boom box. She set it on the ground when she got about halfway to me and turned it on, allowing light music to fill the air. "What do you think?" I heard Emily ask as she made her way away from the cabin and back over to me, "I know it's a little lame but it was last minute so."

"Your little helpers did a good job." I said with a laugh as I looked around and Emily nodded, "How are you even getting power to do this out here? We're literally out in the woods." I asked in disbelief as to how this was even working.

"My dad let us borrow a generator." She said with a small laugh as she pointed to the small cabin, "We stuck it in there and just figured we'd come back to clean it all up in the next couple of days, so unfortunately you only get twinkly lights tonight."

I mocked disappointment, "Aw darn." I said as I leaned in to kiss her, "It's beautiful, Em." I mumble against her lips and I felt her smile into the kiss before pulling away.

"What do we not get to make out under all the twinkly lights?" I asked playfully with a pout causing Emily to laugh and my pout to instantly fade away not being able to contain the smile that she brought to my face.

"Maybe if you're lucky, but they were intended to dance under." She said as she pulled me out into the open space under the lights and stopped me somewhere in the middle. She threw her hands around my neck and I slipped my hands down to her waist as we began to sway slowly.

"You know what I miss?" I asked, "College." I answered my own question before she even had the chance to ask me what.

She looked at me curiously, "And why is that?"

"Because I always got lucky in college." I said with a laugh.

"You still get plenty lucky." Emily said joining in on my laughing.

"Oh no I still get lucky just not as often." I said, "I mean we used to be able to just go at it all day long."

"You make our college years sound like some sort of sex marathon." Emily said as she laughed and leaned her head down on my shoulder as she leaned into me. "That's how I like to remember it." I said smiling.

"I'm sure you do but now we're adults, with actual responsibilities. Also known as kids." She joked, but it was true.

"I swear it's like every time I try to make a move, they know and they come running to ruin our moment."

"Well they can't ruin this moment." She said and I pulled away from her slightly so she could see my face, "Emily are you suggesting that we do it out here?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emily shook her head immediately, "Absolutely not. I'm not having sex out in the woods Paige. I'm a grown woman, if we're going to have sex, we're going to have sex in our bed." I laughed and shook my head as I pulled her back into me.

"If you think Parker is going to let us have sex after you sent your father in to scare off Brooke for the night, you are very wrong babe." I said knowing I wasn't getting any tonight if Parker had a say in it, which was weird but true.

Emily sighed against my shoulder, "Remember our trip to Hawaii?" She asked.

I laughed, "You mean the one we didn't really need to go on because we hardly ever even left the bed in our hotel room?"

"That's the one." She said happily. "Mmm that was a good trip."

I nodded holding her close to me before pulling away quickly, slightly startling Emily, "What?" She asked as she looked at me and I could tell she was confused.

"How do you remember that trip Em?" I asked studying her carefully as she looked at me like I was crazy. She didn't answer but rather continued to stare at me, her face scrunching further into confusion.

"Emily you do realize when we took that trip right?" I asked seriously. Emily shrugged and shook her head, "Not really. It was a long time ago." She answered trying to figure out what my point was.

"Yeah, but Parker and Kacey were already toddlers when we took that trip." I said and the realization hit her, "Emily you remembered something."

"But that's all I remember and I still don't remember having the kids then." She said as she shook her head, probably in shock herself.

"It doesn't matter Em, maybe this is like the beginning of it. The doctor said that you could get a little at a time and that it probably wouldn't come back all at once." I said feeling a little hope come back to me that Emily may get her memory back.

She smiled and came over to me hugging me tightly and I could feel the tears in her eyes as she buried her face in my neck. I sighed kind of relieved. We were going to be okay. This is what we needed. We eventually pulled ourselves together and continued dancing through the night. After a while we decided it was time to go home. We shut down the lights and music and climbed back into the car. We drove home entering the house quietly, not wanting to be loud incase everyone was asleep for the night.

I heard the TV in the living room when we walked in and walked over to the living room to find Parker asleep on the couch. I walked over to her and brushed her hair to the side before grabbing her shoulder and shaking her softly, "Parker."

The girl's eyes opened slightly to look up at me as she rolled off her side and onto her back, "Hey mom." She said groggily as wiped her eyes and sat up.

"Hey kiddo, long night?" I asked knowing how her plans played out thanks to Emily.

She let out a groan as she stood up leaning her body against mine, burying her head in my chest, "So long." She said and I wrapped my arms around the girl laughing slightly as I looked over at Emily who was standing behind the couch laughing.

"So I take it your grandfather showed up like I asked?" Emily asked causing the girl in my arms to turn and face her.

"Nope." She said shaking her head, causing me and Emily to look at her curiously.

"What do you mean he didn't show up?" Emily asked. "And if he didn't come then what made your night so long?" I added.

"Oh someone showed up. Just not him." She informed us.

"My mom?" Emily asked with wide eyes and I tried to hold back my laugh but it slipped out immediately. Parker brought both of her hands up to cover her face before bursting out into laughter with me.

"What happened?!" I managed to get out in between my laughing as my jaw dropped.

"Well as you anticipated, Brooke was in fact here when grandma let herself into the house. Lucky for us we heard her and I came down and it went well for about 30 seconds and then she began to call out for the boy upstairs to come down." This sent me into another fit of laughter.

Emily looked at me sternly and I tried to bring it down a notch, "I'm so sorry Parker, I swear I didn't mean to do that." She said still wide eyed and not seeing the humor in the situation. It was clear that everything was fine if Parker wasn't in a heap of tears, but I guess Emily was still trying to get used to the kids and what they freaked out over.

"It's fine mama, Brooke kind of saved the day and told her we were studying." She said with a smirk and I reached over and flicked the hickey on her neck.

"I remember my early years of studying." I teased, "We did it a lot." I said as I threw a wink in Emily's direction causing Parker to laugh as she swatted my hand away.

"So I was informed." Parker said and this made me look at her confused like Emily, "Grandma said she had unfortunately walked in on a study session or two between you guys."

"So she knows that you're gay then?" I asked and Parker nodded with a smile.

"You guys were right, she didn't care. It kind of upset her though that I thought she would, but she said that she didn't blame me. And she was also happy that she found out before your dad." Parker said as she looked over at me, "She secretly hates the guy." She said with a laugh and this time Emily joined her.

"It's not a secret sweetheart. She just hates him." Emily stated truthfully. Parker looked at me and I shrugged, "It's true." I said with a nod.

"Okay well I'm glad everything worked out even though things didn't exactly go as planned." Emily said with a sigh of relief.

Parker nodded as a yawn escaped her lips, "How'd your night go, did you like the surprise?" Parker asked me.

"Yeah we had an amazing night. Thank you for helping your mother plan it and put it all together." I said.

"Oh and guess what?" Emily jumped in and I couldn't help but laugh at her excitement as did Parker, "I remembered something." She told Parker who wasn't laughing anymore but instead looked shocked.

"Really?" Parker asked.

Emily nodded, "It wasn't anything big. I just remembered going on this trip and she said you guys were already born so, maybe this is like the start of it you know. Or that's at least what we're hoping." She said and I could tell she was nervous about getting the girl's hopes up just in case it was a fluke thing.

"Are you kidding me?" Parker said as she got up and hugged Emily, "That's amazing mama." She said excitedly. Emily smiled as she pulled the girl closer to her, if that was possible and they were both clearly crying now.

Parker pulled away and wiped her face as she tried to let out a small laugh, "Okay well enough of that." She said as she tried to keep her crying to a minimum.

"It's okay to cry Park." Emily said, "You're allowed to express your feelings." She said teasingly.

Parker threw a fake disgusted look in Emily's direction, "No thanks, I'll pass." She said before looking at me, "Don't you hate when she tries to get you to talk about your feelings?" Parker asked teasing back.

I nodded, "Yep." I said looking at Emily, who rolled her eyes at the repeat from earlier.

"Alright well, I'm just going to call it a night." Parker said as she made her way to me and then Emily to say goodnight, "I'd rather not have any sort of unappreciated activities taking place while I'm awake so at least have the curtesy to wait until I'm asleep." She said as she walked upstairs.

"Wait how are we supposed to know when you're asleep?" I called out to her teasingly.

"Here's a hint, not anytime soon mom." She called back, "I guess you'll just have to wait for another time."

"Or I can do whatever I want because it's my house." I countered. Emily looked at me and shook her head, "Our house." I corrected myself but Emily just shook her head again telling me to stop, the same stern look on her face, "What?" I asked as she started walking up the stairs with a small smile on her face.

"Looks like you blew it anyway, so I don't have to worry about my ears bleeding tonight from strange noises coming from a certain bedroom." Parker yelled.

I walked upstairs and into Parker's room grabbing a pillow off of Kacey's bed and playfully throwing it over at Parker who was in a fit of laughter as the pillow hit her, "Go to bed." I said as I laughed. Parker jumped up off of the bed and onto my back as she laughed more.

"Nope." She said as I walked her over to mine and Emily's bedroom, barely being able to make it with Parker on my back. Parker was as big as I was and I was getting a little old for carrying her around but it was always fun to rough house a little.

"Well looks like we're going to have to make room for one more." I said getting Emily's full attention when I flung Parker off of my back and onto the bed.

"Make that two." Parker said as she gestured to the door where Taylor was standing.

I walked over to her, "I'm sorry baby did we wake you up?" I asked as she walked into the room towards me. She nodded, "I'm sorry." I said as I lifted her and flung her onto the bed next to Parker, which caused her to laugh as well.

I turned and looked at Emily with a shrug, "See this is why I miss college. This is it, these are the problem." I joked as I gestured to the kids on the bed

"Rude" Parker said giggling.

"You love it." Emily said and I nodded as I threw myself on the bed and flung my arms around both girls, "Yeah I do. Although I am missing one of my girls." I mentioned looking over at Parker to make sure she had heard from the younger girl.

"She called earlier when she left the dance and they went over to Megan's house for the night." Parker said and I nodded.

I couldn't be much happier than I was in this moment. This was probably the best I had felt since the accident. Emily was doing a lot better and the fact that she remembered something, no matter how small, gave me hope for her regaining her entire memory. I felt like everything was finally starting to look up for us as a family and was excited for us to move past this small obstacle in our lives.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Okay that took me awhile to write. I'm sorry for the wait, hope it wasn't to terrible, but I got super busy out of nowhere and with school starting up…it was just a lot, so sorry about that. Also this isn't the best chapter, it's a little rushed and I felt it was a little all over the place and it's nowhere near as long as they usually are, but I really just wanted to get it up. I know I didn't go into much depth with anything either but I'm going to go more into it in other chapters that are coming up so if it doesn't make sense hopefully I can clear it up later.**

 **And also unfortunately for you I'm terrified to write smut (if you haven't noticed by now, I've been trying to avoid it like the black plague). So who knows how long you'll have to wait for that because I avoid it once again in this chapter haha, so I'm sorry about that too because, like me, I'm sure you guys all enjoy reading it.**

 **Okay so that's all I think. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. Love something, hate something, want me to add or change something, let me know, I love hearing from you guys whether it's good or bad.**

 **Oh one more thing, if any of you are still watching PLL just know that I'm going to freak the hell out in January if Paily isn't a thing, with Emily going to California and all. Seriously don't tease me PLL writers, I've had enough BS from you people already! Okay I'm really done now, sorry for the A/N that's longer than the chapter. Thanks for reading, enjoy!**

 **[Parker's POV]**

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing somewhere on the floor next to my bed. I groaned and buried my head deeper into my pillow, doing my best to ignore it. However as soon as the ringing stopped it started back up once again. I groaned and rolled over grabbing the phone and answering it without even bothering to look to see who it was, "what?" I asked half asleep and irritated as I rested my head back down on my pillow and closed my eyes.

"Oh thank god." I heard the person on the other line sigh out in relief, "Parker you have to get down here, I need your help."

"Megan?" I questioned, still not one hundred percent sure who I was talking to.

"Yes Parker!" She said agitated, "you need to get up and come over to Haley's house like right now."

I peeked out of one eye to look at the clock across from me and groaned again when I discovered it was just past 2 in the morning, "is everything alright Megan?" I asked as I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes with my free hand figuring something must have went wrong, "What do you need me for?"

I could hear commotion coming from the other side of the phone and was curious as to what was going on wherever Megan was, "It Kacey, she's-" Megan stopped and I could hear her talking to someone in the background, "she's, well, she's a little drunk."

My eyes widened at the information, knowing that Kacey had never drank in her entire life. I didn't even know if she had ever even been to a real party before, "yeah umm I'll come over right now...are you alright?" I asked as I got out of bed and scrambled around the room grabbing my shoes and slipping them on.

"Yeah I'm fine, she just won't listen to me and I can't find her now and I don't know what to do anymore Park." She said and I could tell the other girl was nervous and she sounded like she was on the edge of freaking out.

Megan and Kacey were both good girls, especially Megan. Neither of them got into much trouble and when they did it was hardly ever for anything like this, "Okay just look around for her okay, it might take me a while to get there but I'll be there as soon as I can." I stated before hanging up.

I climbed out of the window not wanting to risk waking anyone up and climbed down the side of the house fairly easily. I wouldn't be able to take a car without anyone noticing and I definitely wasn't going to risk getting caught with the car after literally just getting in trouble for stealing it the other night.

Haley was on the swim team and I knew her parents went out of town a lot and that she was known for throwing parties and considering the dance was earlier I wasn't surprised that there was one going on tonight. She only lived a couple of blocks away though and I quickly made my way over to the house, charging into a party that was well past full swing.

I was greeted by a couple of fairly drunk people who weren't able to direct me to Kacey or Megan so I blindly wandered through the crowd of people. After a little bit I spotted her from across the room pinned to a wall making out with some boy. I quickly made my way over to them and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, yanking him off of her, "What the hell!" he yelled and I grabbed Kacey not wanting to deal with this.

Kacey immediately tried to pull away from me when I started to drag her away from the boy, "Let go Parker!"

"Hey! She said let her go!" The boy yelled at me again and I turned around to find someone I knew. It was Tyler. He wasn't really the nicest guy. He had his moments but ultimately he was a low life who was nothing but trouble and I wasn't about to leave my drunk little sister with someone like him.

"You're not getting anywhere near her Tyler, so get out of here." I said back as calmly as I could while still trying to hold Kacey back as she tried to pull out of my grip, "Kacey calm down." I said.

"No I don't want to go with you!" She yelled and I was surprised that she was so resistant but by the clear stench of alcohol coming off of her I knew she had had way more than enough to drink tonight.

I stopped trying to pull Kacey away and instead tried to calm her down first, but when I stopped I felt Tyler trying to pull me and Kacey apart. I instinctively turned to shove him away from me starting to get really mad now, but when I shoved him he came right back and by the time I saw him cock his arm back it was too late and I was met with a right hook.

I straightened up again and threw a punch back at him, probably hurting my hand more than I hurt him in the process. Some people who weren't completely trashed were quick to pull Tyler away from me, "Why do you always have to do that?!" I heard Kacey yell from behind me who was struggling to even stand up straight at this point.

I walked back to her and grabbed her arm again, "Look I know him, he uses Kacey. Trust me if you weren't trashed you wouldn't want to be anywhere near that loser." I said honestly. "He's bad news and your drunk off your ass, I'm not leaving you here so please stop fighting me."

"What so you're allowed to do these things but no one else is?!" She exclaimed as she yanked her arm out of my grip again.

I let out a heavy sigh, anticipating where this was heading, "Kacey really let's not do this right now."

"You take pills, so what does that make you?!" She exclaimed, "You're the same low life loser that he is, you always have been!"

That one took me by surprise. My sister had always helped me out ever since she found out about the pills thing. She was always reminding me that I had just made a mistake and that it didn't make her see me any differently than she ever had. I knew she was drunk and all, but apparently she wasn't seeing it the way she usually did.

"Good to know." I said bitterly as I bent down and wrapped my arms around the girls thighs, lifting her up and throwing her over my shoulder as I made my way out of the room as fast as I could. Kacey continued to squirm in my hold shouting 'I hate yous' and 'put me downs' as I went out front to meet Megan who was waiting by the car her mom had let her use for the night.

I put Kacey down in the back seat and slipped in next to her as Megan went around to the front of the car and got in. As Megan drove off to our house Kacey finally stopped fighting and had leaned against me, quickly passing out on the short drive. Megan stopped the car outside our house shutting it off and turning to face me, "What do we do now?"

I sighed, "I don't know, we have to try to get her in as quietly as possible. My moms are going to freak out if they catch her like this." I dug around in my pocket for a key to the front door and handed it to Megan, "Here go unlock the front door and make sure everyone's still asleep and then come back and help me get her up to our room."

Megan nodded and exited the car, swiftly making her way to the front door and disappearing inside.

 **[Emily's POV]**

Something in the night had woken me up. I carefully slipped out of Paige's hold and quietly got up out of bed to use the bathroom. As I was coming out I heard some noises coming from downstairs. I glanced over to the clock to see that it was past three in the morning and decided to check it out since I was already up, thinking that it must've been Parker who was having trouble sleeping and had just decided to go downstairs for a snack or something.

I quietly exited the room, closing the door behind me and made my way to the stairs. As I walked down the stairs I noticed a figure standing over by the living room entrance, "Parker?" I asked quietly not being able to see all that clearly in the darkness of the living room.

I reached for the light switch on the wall and flicked it on to reveal a girl that I hadn't remembered seeing before, "H-hey Mrs. McCullers." She said awkwardly with a small wave as she stood stiffly in the doorway.

"Umm hi." I said as I narrowed my eyes at the young girl, "Who are you?" I asked curiously feeling a little bad that I didn't recognize the girl.

The girls head dropped down as she nodded her head in realization that I didn't know who she was, "Right I'm sorry ma'am, umm I'm Megan. Kacey's best friend." She said and I nodded now recognizing the girl from the few times I had seen her in the last couple of months, but still confused as to why she was standing in my living room.

"Where's Kacey?" I asked knowing that she was supposed to be staying with Megan for the night.

It was clear that the girl in front of me was nervous and it was easy to tell that something was up, "Oh yeah, umm well she uh just wanted me to come by and get something for her."

"Mhm." I said eyeing the girl who refused to look at me, "and what was that, that you needed to get?" Megan let out a puff of air as she tried to think of something quick and right as she opened her mouth to say something a door upstairs opened and closed, causing both me and Megan to look up to the top of the stairs.

Paige emerged quickly from the hallway and walked down the stairs as she rubbed her eyes, "Why's everyone up?" She asked groggily and I turned my attention to Megan who was now much more nervous than she had previously been with just me in the room.

Paige raised an eyebrow at Megan as she stopped at my side, "Do I wanna know?" She asked, clearly annoyed with all the shenanigans the girls seemed to be a part of recently. Megan stood silently in the doorway as she debated whether or not she still had a chance to cover anything up. Eventually Megan's eyes closed as a sigh of defeat came out of her mouth and she walked over to the front door and called out to someone who was apparently outside.

Megan reentered the house followed by Parker who had a passed out Kacey in her arms. Paige sighed, "Megan it's pretty late, you should really get home." Megan nodded before turning and exiting the house. Paige then turned to Parker and gestured upstairs with a nod of her head, "Put her upstairs and then come back please."

Parker then moved past us and up the stairs as quickly as she could while carrying the younger girl.

Paige moved to the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs as she rested her head in her hands, letting out a grunt of frustration. I moved over behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders, "I don't know what's going on Em." She groaned out. "I swear they usually don't act like this." She said as she lifted her head to look at me.

I nodded, but before I could say anything Paige's eyes moved behind me and Parker entered the kitchen sitting across from Paige on the other side of the table. It was the first time I got a good look at Parker and noticed that her eye was red and starting to bruise. I walked over to the girl lifting her chin with my finger so I could get a better look at her eye.

"What happened?" I asked softly as I looked down at Parker running my thumb softly under her bruising eye.

She simply shook her head, "Nothing." She grumbled out as she turned her head out of my hold and looked away. When Paige looked at her sternly she shrugged, "I don't want to talk about it mom."

"Parker you have to stop acting like this." Paige said as she got up out of her chair, walking over to the freezer and pulling out an ice pack tossing it onto the table in front of Parker before she returned to her seat.

Parker looked at Paige annoyed, "You don't even know what happened." She stated angrily before standing up out of her chair, "I was just looking out for her, but no of course it's still my fault." She huffed out in disbelief.

"It's not your fault Parker, that's not what I'm saying." Paige said with a sigh, "I just don't want you getting in fights. Look at you." She said lifting her hand, gesturing to the bruising on her face, "What were you even doing out tonight?"

"Megan called me to come get Kacey, that's all I was doing." She informed us.

"So then how did you end up in a fight?" I asked curiously.

"She was really drunk and some guy was all over her and I don't know I just got mad." She said clearly still bothered by it. "When I shoved him off of her, he got mad and hit me so I hit him back. It's not a big deal."

"A boy hit you?" I asked not pleased.

"Yes, but he was drunk and probably had no clue what he was doing which is why I was trying to get Kacey away from him. I was just trying to help her, but she didn't want it and so I got punched in the face." She said looking over at me, "It was a really great night." She said sarcastically. "Can I please just go to bed?"

I nodded even though Paige still wanted to talk to her, "Here," I said handing her the ice pack off the table, "at least ice it so it's not swollen tomorrow." I said before kissing the side of her head and sending her off upstairs.

Paige and I both followed the girl and walked over into our bedroom. Paige immediately walked in and sat down at the foot of the bed, letting out a heavy sigh as she brought her hands up to rub her face.

"You okay?" I asked as I sat down on the foot of the bed next to her.

Paige nodded, "Yeah, I just wish I knew what was going on with them." She said as she laid back on the bed.

"Well I wasn't going to say anything until I talked to Parker, but I think I may know one of the secrets the two of them are trying to keep from us." I said as I stood up off the bed and walked over to the closet. When I came out Paige was leaning up on her forearms, interest clearly peaked.

"I'm not exactly sure what they are or where they came from, but I found it the other day and when I saw it I remembered finding them in Parker and Kacey's room." I said as I walked over to her and sat back down on the bed, fiddling with the small bottle in my hand. "A lot of the details are fuzzy and there are a lot of blank spaces which is why I was going to wait until I could talk to the girls but here." I said handing the container to Paige.

"Where did you find these?" Paige asked as she dumped the contents onto the bed.

"Well they were in the closet. I kind of just stumbled across them." I said honestly. "But when I saw it I remembered finding them in Parker's dresser and then her freaking out about it and I don't know that's really all I can remember about it."

"Wait a minute do you even know what these are for?" Paige asked looking up at me confused and I figured she didn't know what kind of pills they were either.

I shook my head, "No not really."

Paige stood up, "I'll be right back." She said as she got up and I grabbed her wrist not allowing her to get to far, "Emily let go of me." She said and I shook my head.

"Calm down first and then you can talk to her." I suggested not really sure how these kind of things usually went.

Paige yanked her hand out of my grip and walked out of the room. I sighed and waited patiently knowing that she would return immediately with Parker. She came in pulling a clearly grumpy Parker behind her.

"What the heck mom!" She said angrily as Paige brought Parker in front of her and pushed her into the room towards the bed.

"What are those?" Paige asked upset.

Parker looked over to the bed and after a moment noticed the pills dumped out on the bed. She looked at me with wide eyes, "Where did you get those?! You kept them?!"

"I found them in our room and I remember taking them from you and I don't remember why I kept them but I did for some reason." I said matter-of-factly.

"And you showed them to mom?!" she asked yelling at me, "You said you wouldn't do that!" She stated and I became stuck.

I didn't remember the part where I apparently agreed to keep what I had found a secret from Paige. Why I would do that, I had no idea but now I felt kind of bad seeing the look of disbelief on Parker's face. But at the same time I was starting to feel more like the girl's parent rather than someone who was here to please them all of the time like I had originally felt when I first came back into the house after the accident.

"Parker just tell us what they are and why you had them." I said sternly causing the girl to get even more flustered.

"Well?" Paige added, waiting for Parker's answer.

"I don't know what all of them are." Parker said with a sigh f defeat as she walked over to the pills on the bed, separating them. "She would just tell me that the small white ones keep you awake and the bigger white ones would relieve pain."

"And the others?" I asked noticing that there were a couple of colored ones that she had separated into a third small pile.

She shrugged as she turned away from the pills, "No clue."

Paige shook her head letting out a bitter laugh, "So you're taking pills and you don't even know what they are and some you don't even know what they do." Paige shook her head in disbelief before sarcastically adding, "well that seems like a smart thing to do."

Parker shook her head, "I'm not taking them."

"Well you must've been at some point or you wouldn't have them, would you?" Paige asked clearly mad and dumbfounded at Parker's actions.

Parker was now turning just as angry, "I've already been lectured on it by her, alright." She said pointing over her shoulder at me, "And Kacey has yelled at me plenty about it and I really don't need it from you too. I already know that it was stupid of me." She said before trying to leave the room, however Paige stepped in front of her, not allowing her to exit.

"Who's she?" Paige asked, "Who gave them to you?"

Parker laughed, "No way."

"Parker just tell us where you got them." I said, standing up and joining the two of them.

Parker moved her attention off of Paige and over to me scoffing, "What, you remember something and all of the sudden you want to act like you know what's been going on around here."

Paige quickly jumped in, stopping the girl, "Don't talk to her like that. I don't care how much she remembers, she's still your mother."

"Sorry." She said timidly before looking between us, "Look it's been a long night and I already got torn apart enough by Kacey earlier alright, I just want to go to bed."

"Why didn't you just tell me Parker?" Paige asked, obviously hurt that me and Kacey had both known but Parker refused to tell her.

"I already had two people in the house who thought I was some low life screw up, excuse me for not needing a third to think of me like that." She admitted.

I shook my head, "No one thinks of you like that."

"Kacey does, she was perfectly clear about it." Parker stated and I was surprised at the new information, not really believing it.

"What'd she say?" Paige asked and Parker simply shook her head, "Nothing." She said trying to gently push her way past Paige to get out of the door, "Can I please just go to bed…please." She begged and Paige moved out of the way allowing the girl to leave, "but we're talking about it in the morning."

"Can't wait." Parker said sarcastically over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

When Parker left Paige returned to the edge of the bed, sitting down and I followed, sitting next to her. "Do you think she's telling the truth?" I asked not really being able to read the girls all that well yet.

Paige shrugged, "Honestly I want to believe that she's not taking them but that whole episode about the pain killers that we had not that long ago worries me. If she was able to hide it before, why wouldn't she be able to now?"

I nodded in agreement. I was a little worried about that but at the same time I was more worried about where she had gotten the pills from in the first place, almost sure that they must have been the reason behind her getting hit when I first returned home. This made my mind wander to Brooke and the two girl's relationship, whatever that was.

"Can you think of anyone who she may have gotten them from?" I asked Paige, knowing that she had a better chance of guessing than I did.

"I really hope it's not who came to my mind first." She said and it was clear that we both thought it may be Brooke who had given her the pills. "We'll talk to Kacey tomorrow, I know we can get it out of her somehow. But both girls seem to be sold that Brooke's a good person and I don't know if she would do that."

I nodded also knowing that both girls seemed to like Brooke, but also knowing that Brooke had some bad moments in the last couple of months between the hitting and fighting with Parker. I sighed as I leaned my back to rest on the bed, turning my head to the side so I could see Paige, "I'm sorry I knew about all this and didn't tell you."

Paige turned her body slightly so she could look down at me, "Do you really think that she feels like we think of her as a screw up?" She asked.

I moved my gaze away from her thinking of something to say before returning my eyes to hers, "I really hope not. I think we should sit down with her tomorrow and make sure she knows that whatever it is that's going on or went on with her that it's okay. And just reassure her that we can help her if she needs it and that we love her no matter what."

Paige nodded, "Yeah that's probably a good idea."

"What about Kacey?" I asked wondering what her punishment was going to be. I definitely wasn't at the state I was when Parker had come home drunk and I didn't think I could do something like that again, I still wasn't extremely comfortable with the major punishments that I apparently used to be able to give easily.

"I don't know, we should have a talk with her to, something must be bothering her still." She said as she put the pills back into the container and tossed it over towards the closet. She let out a heavy sigh, "These kids are going to be the death of me." She said dramatically causing me to laugh.

"There's still hope for Taylor." I said teasingly.

"I guess it's a good thing you convinced me to have three then." She said as she rested one of her arms on the other side of my body and leaned down to kiss me quickly, pulling away but staying leant over me.

"Mhm." I agreed leaning up to capture her lips with mine, not completely satisfied with the small peck that I previously got.

Paige had no complaints about me reconnecting our lips and deepening the kiss. She hummed into the kiss as I snuck my tongue into her mouth. She slipped her arm around my waist and slid her hand under my shirt as she rested it on my lower back, instantly pulling me up closer to her body. I impatiently ran my hands up her sides until they rested on the back of her neck and pulled her down with me as I rested my back down on the bed.

Paige's hand continued to creep lower until I felt it slip beneath the waistband of my pajama bottoms, her other hand lowering down my thighs before she gripped my leg lifting me into her as she attempted to climb up the bed with me in her arms. When she was satisfied with our position she gently laid me back down onto the bed and moved her lips to trail down my jaw. I let out a small moan as she slowly made her way down my neck, gently sucking on certain spots.

But just as I was really getting into it I felt Paige remove her lips from my neck as she collapsed on top of me groaning in frustration as she buried her head in my chest. I opened my previously closed eyes to look down at her as she lifted her head to meet my gaze, "I'm sorry I just can't stop thinking about Kacey and Parker and it's really killing the mood for me." She grumbled.

She dropped her head back down to rest against my chest as she continued, "One's passed out drunk and I just found out the other one apparently was popping pills."

"Wow you make us sound like such great parents." I said sarcastically, before bringing my hand up to run my fingers through her hair as she sighed.

"I'm sorry I just don't get it Em." She said rolling her body off of mine and propping herself up on one of her elbows as she faced me, "They're both really good kids, I swear." She said as if she had to prove something to me.

"I know." I said as I turned onto my side so I could face her too, "We'll figure it out in the morning when we can, okay?" I said trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine, "Don't beat yourself up about it tonight." I said as I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arm around her waist, slipping it under her shirt and running my nails across her lower back soothingly.

"I'm just worried about them, that's all." She said and I leaned in kissing her softly, "I know." I whispered pulling away slightly and resting my forehead against hers letting out a small sigh, "So am I."

 **[Parker's POV]**

I got into my room, immediately searching for my cellphone. I quickly found it and scrolled through my contacts stopping on a number that I hadn't in a while. I waited patiently as the phone rang, when no one answered I hung up and called again.

 _"_ _What do you want McCullers?"_ The other voice asked.

"My parents know about the pills you gave me. I didn't tell them where I got them but they're starting to ask questions and I just wanted to let you know to lay off in case they figure it out." I stated, worried about the situation.

 _"_ _Why would they think it's me? Your parents don't even know me."_ I heard shuffling around on the other end of the line, _"You better not have said anything!"_ She stated sternly and I shook my head even though she couldn't see me, "No they don't know you and I didn't say anything but I know my parents and they're going to think it's Brooke and we both know that Brooke's not going to take the bullet for you if it comes down to it. She's going to be pissed and you know it."

I heard the other girl sigh, _"Well the two of you seem to be tight these days, despite my initial request that you stay away from her."_ I rolled my eyes not in the mood to fight.

"I'm just warning you to stay low for a while alright?" I said pausing, "or you're going to get busted."

 _"_ _Fine."_ She huffed knowing that I was right. _"Thanks for the warning at least. I guess you are loyal after all."_ She said and I laughed, "Yeah loyal to saving my own ass."

 _"_ _Well aren't we all."_ She responded, _"Whether it's for yourself or Brooke, I don't care, thanks for not just hanging me out to dry."_

I was surprised that she was being somewhat nice to me, she usually was, for the lack of a better term, a bitch. I narrowed my eyes in thought, "Did you just say thanks? Not once but twice?" I asked teasingly knowing that it would annoy the other girl.

 _"_ _Goodnight Parker."_ She said dryly and I could practically see her rolling her eyes in annoyance as she hung up.

I glanced over at Kacey who was dead to the world on the top of her bed and wondered if she really thought I was a screw up. It wasn't a big deal or anything and I doubted that she would even remember calling me out in the morning but for some reason it was bothering me. I didn't like disappointing anyone which was why I started taking the pills in the first place, which seems dumb now that I think about it but I just wanted to live up to everyone's standards and I couldn't do it without taking them. Or at least at the time that's how I felt.

I sighed as laid back down in my bed and buried my head into my pillow knowing that things were about to start going downhill real fast around this house.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Sorry about the wait guys, I know it took me forever to update but I had a little bit of writers block. But here it is, finally! Don't forget to let me know what you thought of the chapter, I really appreciate it when you take the time to let me know what you do or don't like :) Thanks again for reading, enjoy!**

 **[Emily's POV]**

Paige's constant tossing and turning on her side of the bed had been keeping me up all night. I had moved away from her hours ago in hopes of getting a little sleep but as the sun slowly started peeking through the blinds in our room I gave up trying to sleep knowing that it wasn't going to happen for either of us.

I rolled over onto my side to face Paige's back and scooted closer to her until my front was pressed to her back. I wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a soft kiss on the back of her neck, "You okay?" I asked in a whisper my lips brushing across her skin as I spoke.

Paige groaned lightly as she slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position looking down at me, "sorry I kept you up all night." She said softly.

I rolled onto my back so I could look up at her, "I know you have a lot on your mind right now but you have to relax babe." I said as soothingly as possible.

"How am I supposed to relax Emily?" she asked as she swung her feet over the bed, slumping her shoulders and burying her face in her hands, "Our daughter has been doing who knows what for who knows how long and we had no clue Emily. No clue."

I sat up when I saw Paige stand and watched as she began pacing around the room as she went on, "I mean what does that say about us Emily, are we terrible parents? What if we made her feel like she wasn't good enough? What if we're the reason she has this problem? See this is exactly why I was scared to have kids, I told you this would happen, I knew I was going to find a way to screw at least one of them up."

I slipped out of the bed quickly and grabbed Paige by her shoulders stopping her in her tracks, "Stop." I said sternly as I looked into her eyes, "You need to calm down. I know that this is something that's serious and I know that it's a lot to take in but Paige we haven't even talked to her yet."

I paused to make sure Paige was actually listening to me before continuing, "We don't know anything about why she was taking them or how big of a problem it really was and I know that's a little scary but honey you need to breathe."

"I know, I know…I just, I feel like I should've been able to notice, like I should've been able to help her." Paige admitted sounding completely defeated and I could clearly see the guilt in the woman's eyes.

I sighed not really knowing what to say. Since I couldn't necessarily remember much about the past multiple years, there was no way for me to decipher whether or not there were any signs that the young girl showed that should have tipped Paige or I off about her problems with pills. Despite not being able to remember though, I couldn't help but feel guilty myself for not being able to help our daughter, who was clearly going through something.

"I know this is hard but I think we should just wait until we hear what Parker has to say about it before we start jumping to the worst possible scenarios." I said trying to calm Paige's nerves, but I think we were well past that point.

Although it was clear the situation was still getting under Paige's skin she nodded her head as firmly as possible and attempted to silence all of the overwhelming thoughts in her head, "Yeah you're right, I shouldn't freak out until we know exactly what's going on."

I nodded my head and leaned in to connect our lips in a quick kiss, "Everything's going to be fine Paige okay?"

"You don't know that." Paige retorted back quickly.

"Yes I do." I said surely, which caused Paige to raise her eyebrows at me.

"Oh yeah? How?" She asked as she took a step closer to me and wrapped her arms loosely around my waist.

"Come on have you met Parker?" I asked with a small smile, "She's not a bad kid Paige, we both know that. Obviously she went through something that brought this on and I'm sure she's made some mistakes when she was trying to figure things out but she's not a bad kid and she'll pull through it."

"And if she can't?" Paige asked seriously.

"Now that we know something was going on with her we can keep a closer eye on her and if anything like this ever happens again we can help her." I tried to reassure her, "We'll make sure she gets through it, okay, I promise."

"You're right, she'll find a way to get through it." She said semi confidently, "I still feel like I should've been able to do something to help her though."

"You put too much pressure on yourself. I know that you think that this is somehow your fault and that because something like this happened it makes you a terrible parent, but it doesn't. Just like going through something like this doesn't make Parker a terrible kid." I said again trying to ease her mind a little more.

Paige studied my face for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face, "I guess I didn't think about it like that." She said as she leaned in and placed her lips on mine, "Thank you." She mumbled against my lips, hardly bothering to pull our lips apart at all.

"For what exactly?" I asked as I pulled away slightly.

Paige shrugged before pecking my lips once again before speaking, "For calming me down a little and making me feel better about all of this."

"Mmm, anytime." I said before pulling out of her hold and walking over to the door, holding it open for Paige, "Come on." I said gesturing for her to move out the door.

Paige looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Where exactly am I going?" She asked confused.

"Well since you kept me up all night the least you could do is make your beautiful, starving wife something to eat." I said with a smirk.

Paige laughed, "Is that how things work around her now?" She asked playfully as she slowly made her way over to me.

I nodded before letting out a small squeal that turned into a giggle as Paige darted towards me lifting me off the ground, "Well it would be my pleasure." She teased as she moved us out of the room and down towards the kitchen.

 **[Parker's POV]**

Morning came quicker than I would've liked it to, even though I hardly slept at all due to the unwanted attention I knew I would be getting today from my parents. Most likely I was going to be stuck in this house with them for a while, with the exception of school and maybe swim if mom didn't overreact and kick me off the team thanks to my poor choices. I sat up in my bed running my hand through my hair, looking over at Kacey who was still passed out. I was tempted to bang some things around and let her really have it this morning like I had when I had gotten caught drinking but I was still bothered with her comments from last night and decided that instead I would do my best to avoid talking to the girl.

I got up out of bed quietly, not even bothering to get dressed, knowing that I wasn't going anywhere today. I walked downstairs knowing that my parents were already up having heard them in the hallway earlier this morning and because the world was cruel and definitely in no way on my side at the moment, I was expecting this morning to be a long one.

I walked into the kitchen seeing both of parents already sitting at the table next to each other, "Morning." I groaned, not paying much attention to either one of them as I walked deeper into the kitchen to pour myself a bowl of cereal.

Besides the quick replies of 'morning' from both of them no one spoke a word. I grabbed my cereal and walked over sitting at the table in the seat directly across from both of them figuring I couldn't really avoid talking to them any longer.

I continuously shoveled spoonful's of cereal into my mouth, only removing my eyes from the bowl to sneak quick glances of the two woman across from me, who both had their full attention on me, "What?" I mumbled with a mouthful of cereal, trying to act like I would any other morning in hopes that maybe they would let it slide, but that was more than wishful thinking.

Paige rolled her eyes and I could tell by the dark circles that fell under them that she hadn't slept much last night. Emily reached over, placing her hand on Paige's leg squeezing lightly, telling her to relax before turning her gaze back to me, "Just finish your cereal sweetheart so we can have that talk." I nodded looking back down at my practically empty bowl silently wishing that I had poured more and had eaten a little slower.

I began to take smaller bites and chew way more than necessary, but I wasn't able to delay the conversation as much as I wanted to. As soon as I was done Paige grabbed the bowl moving over to drop in in the sink. She returned immediately and I sighed, "Do we really have to do this?" I asked as I shifted in my chair uncomfortably.

"Yes." Emily said sternly, giving me a look to let me know that this was serious, which I already knew.

"Fine." I said confidently, "What do you wanna know?"

"When did you start taking them?" Paige asked quietly and the hesitance in her voice let me know that she didn't want to hear it as much as I didn't want to talk about this subject.

I looked down at my fingers in my lap that twisted around each other nervously, "I took a couple at the beginning of junior year."

"What do you mean you took a couple?" Emily asked, while Paige stared at me in surprise.

"I hurt my ankle messing around at a party I went to the last weekend of summer going into junior year. I didn't want to say anything though because both of you made it clear that I wasn't supposed to go to that party." I sighed knowing that Paige knew exactly what I was talking about, "I knew I wasn't going to be able to train without you noticing something was wrong though so I was freaking out over it. Lucky for me…or I guess now, unfortunately for me I just so happened to get sat next to a girl who had a solution to my problem and offered to help. She gave me a couple pain killers and told me to take one a little while before I had to train and that I would be fine."

I looked at them to make sure that they were still following before continuing, "I knew I shouldn't have taken them. I knew it was stupid but I took one anyways. And it helped. It helped a lot, which made me think that they were much stronger than I was told. I took the other two pills she gave me the next day and the day after that before practice, but after that I didn't have anymore, which I was fine with. Although they helped, they made me feel kind of dizzy, so when I ran out I didn't ask her for anymore, my ankle was feeling a lot better so I didn't think it was a good idea to keep taking them."

"If you stopped taking them after you ran out then why do you have a whole bottle of them upstairs?" Paige asked not fully satisfied by my story.

"I only stopped for a little while. Maybe a couple weeks." I said with a shrug not really sure exactly how long it was, "But then I was having trouble keeping up with everything." I stated leaving it at that, not wanting to get into it right now.

"Trouble keeping up with what?" Paige asked curiously.

"Between training on my own, practice, going to school, and still trying to make time to be able to study and do homework, it was too much for me." I explained standing up from my seat starting to get frustrated from having to tell my parents anything at all, "I couldn't do it all okay. That's it, it was just too much and I didn't have the time."

I sighed sitting back down, "I knew if I failed out of one of my classes that I was going to get kicked off the swim team and I don't know, I just I was willing to do anything to make sure that didn't happen. Swimming means everything to me, you guys know that. It's the only thing I'm good at and I didn't want to lose it and I don't know I just kind of freaked out."

"So you did what?" Emily asked simply.

"I went back to her hoping she could help. I didn't know if she would have anything, I mean we weren't exactly friends but I asked her if she had anything that could help me out anyways. I didn't ask for the details though, I didn't want to know, which I know is stupid of me but like I said I didn't really care at the time."

I paused for a moment taking a deep breath as I dropped my head and slumped forward in my chair, "It's not like I meant to make a habit out of taking them. I got them and I told myself to only take one if it was absolutely necessary." I said trailing off with a sigh.

"But that's not how it works." Emily finished for me and I shook my head in agreement.

"I didn't take one right away when she gave them to me. I held onto them for a while before I actually started taking them because I knew that I shouldn't even have them at all. But one night I had a lot to do and I started getting tired so I took one thinking that it couldn't do much harm. It did exactly what she said it would though, it kept me up through the night and it gave me the extra time I needed."

"But…?" Paige encouraged me to go on when I didn't continue.

"But then when it wore off it was hard not to crash. So I took another one. And then another one and then before I knew it, it was kind of hard to not take them."

"You got used to them."

I nodded, "Before I knew it I was hardly sleeping at all and instead of helping me have enough time to do everything it was just making things worse. I would go on these highs and I had so much energy and I couldn't stop but when you came down from it, it was hard to make it through the day."

"My grades started dropping even more than they were before I started taking the pills and then they started to make me feel weird. They made me dizzy and really jumpy…I just, I don't know how to really explain what happened to me, I just started to feel like someone else. They kind of took over and I was becoming this person that I didn't want to be but at this point I didn't know how to stop."

I stopped for a moment bringing my hand to my face to wipe the few tears that had fallen from my eyes as discretely as possible but when I looked up at my parents it was clear by the sad looks on their faces that I wasn't doing a very good job at hiding my emotions.

I pulled myself together the best I could and continued, "I wanted to stop, I did, but I was in too deep then. The people I started hanging out did stuff like this or at least most of them did so I was around it all the time and I couldn't stop by myself. I needed help."

"Is that when Kacey noticed?" Paige asked.

I shook my head, "Brooke noticed first." I admitted.

"Wait so Brooke didn't know you were taking them?" Emily asked seeming slightly relieved.

I shook my head, "Not at first. She knew I had gotten some pain killers from someone and then she knew I had gone back for something else but she didn't really have a part in any of it and when she found out I told her to stay out of my business, so she did. That's back when we didn't really like eachother. Brooke's never taken pills or anything like that, but I guess she kind of grew up with it in her life. She knows what it does to people and she just didn't want me to get caught up in it."

"So then Brooke actually helped you get off of them." Paige asked confused and I rolled my eyes at the fact that they actually had both fully convinced themselves that it was Brooke who had given me the pills like I assumed they would.

"I was hanging out with some people that she knew were bad news and she called me out on it." I smiled a little at the memory of her rushing me at a party, pulling me away from everyone else to yell at me about the pills only to kiss me when she was done before storming off.

"She called me out about it and at first we kind of avoided each other. Some other stuff was going on but eventually we talked about it and she just kind of explained everything about taking the pills and how she knew what they could do to people. And long story short she just basically told me that I was better than that and I was just throwing away all of this stuff that I had over something stupid."

"After that talk I just started feeling like there was someone who believed in me and I think that's what I needed more than anything at the time. I mean I knew you guys believed in me and everything like that, that's not what I'm saying, it's just that you guys didn't know what was going on, you didn't know how much trouble I was really getting into, but Brooke did and she still saw that I was better than I was acting and it made me realize that I didn't want to be the person I'd become, I wasn't that person."

"So that's when you stopped?"

I nodded, "Yep. She kept an eye on me and made sure I wasn't taking them anymore. She also helped me keep up with some of my school work and everything that I was struggling with before."

"How did Kacey find out?" Emily asked kind of out of the blue, but I was expecting that question eventually so it wasn't must of a surprise.

"Like I said, it came to the point where I wasn't really sleeping much and I mean it was only a matter of time before she noticed something was up with me. When she got suspicious she snooped around the room and found pills in my bag and then of course Kacey freaked out on me." I said with a sigh, stopping not really wanting to get into that either.

"So what you convinced her not to say anything about it?" Paige said clearly not happy that I forced Kacey to do that and disappointed that Kacey went along with it.

"This was after I stopped taking them." I stated quickly, before sighing, "Or at least I was trying to stop when Kacey found out. Brooke had already known for a while so I was getting better, I didn't see the point in having everyone getting on my case about it if I was done taking them."

"The point is that you were taking pills Parker and that's not okay!" Emily shouted slightly, surprising both me and Paige, clearly upset by Parkers casual attitude towards keeping this a secret. "It's dangerous Parker, you should have told us. We could've done something to help you."

"I know I should've, but I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want to disappoint anybody." I stated quietly, "You don't get what it was like."

"What what's like?" Paige asked.

"What it's like to feel like you can't do anything. And then to get the one thing you actually are good at possibly taken away from you because you made one stupid mistake." I stated getting frustrated again.

"We both probably get it way more than you would ever imagine we do. You could've come and talked to us about whatever you were struggling with." Emily said calmly.

"I'm not Kacey!" I stated harshly, "I can't breeze through school and swimming without trying. I definitely am not going to get into any good swim programs if I don't get a scholarship because I can't get into any of the schools I want to based on my grades alone. I just didn't feel like I had a choice but to do something so I took the pills to try to help me out. But then I realized how stupid it was to do that but it was too late and I was scared if you found out I was going to get kicked off the swim team and then what was I supposed to do."

"Parker no one's asking you to be Kacey. We don't compare you to her and we're never going to." Paige said as she walked over to me, "You're more than just a good swimmer Parker."

"Yeah well it doesn't feel that way." I stated before standing up and moving away from my mom, trying not to cry. "Can we take a break or something, I don't want to do this anymore." I said trying to keep my voice from cracking and failing miserably.

Paige sighed looking over at Emily who took a minute before nodding, "Yeah we can take a break."

I nodded before turning to go upstairs but right as I did Kacey appeared in the kitchen entrance, "Great." I said sarcastically as I stopped, standing a few feet in front of her immediately dropping my eyes to the floor.

 **[Kacey's POV]**

I made my way downstairs slowly not sure if anyone but Parker was aware that I had come home drunk last night. I didn't really remember much after the dance and didn't even remember returning home but I was hoping Parker had found a way to cover for me. As I got closer to the kitchen I heard my parent's voices along with Parker's. I turned the corner to walk into the kitchen instantly being met by Parker.

"Well there's our little drunk." Paige said teasingly but I could tell something had been going on before I had entered the kitchen by the looks on everyone's faces. I groaned anyways knowing that I had definitely gotten caught coming home drunk last night and I was definitely going to get it.

I moved my eyes over to Parker who was the only one who wasn't paying any attention to me, with her gaze resting on the ground like she was avoiding looking at me while she slightly shuffled her feet around.

I was kind of surprised that Parker wasn't able to get me out of this one like she usually was, "Couldn't cover for me this time huh?" I asked teasingly to her although I probably shouldn't have been acting like this was a joke in front of my parents who didn't look so pleased with my comment when I looked past Parker and over to them.

"Oh she tried." Emily said causing me to furrow my brow in curiosity as too what exactly went down last night.

I moved my gaze away from my parents and back over to Parker who was fairly close to me. Before I could say anything I was met with a glare from Parker who had finally lifted her eyes off the floor and onto me. My eyes slightly widened due to the black eye she was now sporting, with a small cut underneath it, "What happened to you?" I asked taken back.

She scoffed ignoring my question as she shook her head, "What?" I asked lost.

Parker simply made a move to leave the room but I put one of my hands on her chest, stopping her from walking past me, "are you okay?" I asked softly looking at her eye, "what happened, did they hit you? You didn't do anything stupid did you?"

Parker grabbed my wrist softly and pulled it off of herself, dropping it back to my side, "I'm fine Kacey don't worry about it okay. Just worry about yourself." She said bitterly before moving past me.

"What?" I asked confused as to why she wasn't talking to me, "Parker what's going on?!" I called out to her back as she walked up the stairs but she didn't turn around to answer. I walked back into the kitchen turning my attention back to my parents, "why is she acting like that?"

"Kacey do you remember anything from last night?" Emily asked looking at me.

A look of guilt crossed my face as I shook my head, "Not really. I remember leaving the dance to go to a party but after that I don't have much."

"Kacey why were you even drinking?" Emily asked but I just returned a shrug, "Kacey if something's bothering you then you need to tell us and if there isn't anything wrong and you were just looking to have a good time then you need to be more responsible than that."

"You're lucky Megan was there to look out for you, along with your sister." Paige added, clearly feeling relieved that I wasn't left alone at that party to do god knows what.

"Wait Parker came to the party to get me?" I asked still not completely sure what happened.

Emily nodded her head, "Megan was worried and didn't know what to do because unlike you she didn't drink, so she called Parker to come help her get you under control. She tried to sneak you in but I was already up and caught the two of them trying to get you in the house." She explained.

"You were passed out by the time they got you home, but I think you might have said something that upset her because she wasn't in the best mood last night when she came back and clearly she's still not." Paige said recalling Parker's comments from last night about Kacey.

I nodded, "Can I go talk to her real quick before one of you two try to kill me for coming home drunk?"

"Actually I think I'm going to run upstairs and talk to her. Why don't you stay here and you and mama can have a nice little chat about last night." Paige said as she got up and headed upstairs.

I groaned again regretting my decision to apparently go overboard last night with the fun. I dragged by feet over to the table where Emily was sitting and sat across from her. We sat in silence for a little while and I figured Emily was trying to recover from the talk that Parker must have just suffered through.

"So what happened to Parker?" I asked trying to avoid the topic of me but that backfired considering that it was apparently my fault that Parker got hit in the face.

"She got in the middle of you and some guy and neither you or him seemed to be too pleased with it and unfortunately for Parker, who was just trying to help you, paid a price for it."

"Did she at least hit him back?" I asked with a small laugh, half teasing half curious, but quickly wiped the smile off of my face and took the question back, putting my hands up in defense after seeing the disapproving look on my mother's face, "Sorry."

"So if Parker didn't really do anything wrong what was she getting in trouble for?" I asked now completely confused as to why she was in such a bad mood.

Emily didn't even have to say anything for me to figure it out. It clicked in my head and I instantly dropped my head into my hands with a sigh, "I didn't tell you, did I?" I asked quietly as tears started to slowly escape my eyes.

When she didn't answer I figured I need to clarify so I added, "About Parker and the pills. It wasn't me right?"

I felt a hand on my back and I lifted my head to find Emily standing right next to me, "No you didn't sweetheart. You were long gone by the time she got you home."

I let out a sigh of relief, "So do you know what I said to her to make her so mad at me then?"

Emily shook her head, "Nope, that one you have to figure out on your own." I nodded in understanding as Emily filled the seat next to me.

"We'll get to you in a moment but is there anything you want to talk about when it comes to Parker and her situation. I know you've been keeping it to yourself for a while. She already told us everything Kacey, there's nothing to hide anymore so you can talk about it if you want to." Emily said seeing an opportunity to try to get a little more information out of Kacey.

"Everything?" I asked warily.

"Yes we know that she was taking the pills, when she started, who gave them to her. Everything Kacey, so you can relax." She stated confidently trying to act uninterested in the younger girl.

I eyed Emily carefully trying to read her, "Parker wouldn't have ratted anyone out." I stated as I shook her head with a small smirk, "nice try though mama."

"So you know who it is then." Emily asked with a raised eyebrow and I nodded casually, "Why won't you two just tell us who it was?"

"Why is it such a big deal, it's done isn't it?" I asked stubbornly.

"It's a big deal because someone gave your sister who knows what and something bad could have happened to her Kacey. It's a big deal because it's not a game, what your sister was given and even taking is most likely illegal and it's not okay for either of you to be involved with anything like that."

"I'm sorry okay, I know I should've said something but she told me she was fine. She said she had it under control and that I didn't have to worry about it." I said honestly.

Emily sighed, "Just if anything like this happens again can you please tell us, it's important Kacey."

I nodded, "Yeah but it's not going to happen again. She promised it wouldn't and I trust her. She was really sorry for the whole thing, she didn't mean for it to even happen, it just kind of did, but she's done."

Emily nodded, "Good." She said before narrowing her eyes at me, "Now onto you."

"You know what, I think we talked enough for today don't you? I think we have. It's been fun. Great even, we should do it again sometime mama, really." I said as I tried to stand up.

Emily grabbed me and forced me back into my chair, "Nope."

 **[Parker's POV]**

I walked back up to my room and quickly made my way over to my dresser digging through the bottom drawer eventually finding what I was looking for. I hurriedly threw on some shorts and a t-shirt, throwing the stuff from my drawer in a backpack and slinging it over my shoulders.

I walked over to the window opening it and swung one of my legs out the window and down onto the roof before being stopped abruptly by a voice.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I turned to find Paige leaning against the doorframe. I put a small smile on my face as I tried to come up with something to say, "I'm uh...I'm going for a run." I said even though it was clear I wasn't.

Paige pushed herself away from the wall and walked over towards me pulling me back inside the room, "we need to talk about this Parker, it's not exactly something we can just pretend isn't happening. I know you want to but you can't avoid it forever."

"Well can I avoid it for let's say...about another forty-five minutes?" I asked hopefully, knowing that she'd give in to me if I tried hard enough.

When she let out a soft sigh and looked back behind her for any signs of Emily I knew she'd let me go, "thanks mom." I said giving her a wide smile before wrapping my arms around her neck in a tight hug.

"Forty five minutes Parker and you better be home." She said softly as she returned the hug, "can just you and me talk really quick though before you go?" She asked as she pulled away from me.

I didn't really want to but I nodded in agreement anyways thinking it was the least I could do since she was letting me escape the house for a little while. When she moved to sit on the edge of the bed I followed, slipping my backpack off, tossing it on the floor and sitting down next to her, "so what's up?" I asked curiously.

"First off do I even want to know what's in there and why you seem in such a rush to get rid of it?" She asked eyeing my backpack.

I glanced at the backpack and then back at her as I shook my head, my shoulders slumping, "No, probably not."

"Parker are you kidding me?!" She said angrily and I winced internally at my stupidity.

"What?! I thought we were being honest now." I stated as the disappointed look that I was trying to avoid earlier grew on my mom's face "Look I'm getting rid of them mom, I swear I'm not taking them anymore okay? I just happened to have some lying around, which I realize sounds suspicious but I swear it's completely innocent. I haven't taken one in a long time, it's almost been a whole year."

Paige looked at me and I could tell she was wary about letting it slide and believing me but I wasn't lying and I knew she would know that, "Fine but I don't want to see any of that stuff lying around here you got it?"

"Yes ma'am." I said and Paige nodded, "Where are you taking them?" She asked.

"Nowhere in particular." I said probably a little too quickly.

"Give them to me." She said putting her hand out, waiting.

"Yeah, no see I get the you know what beat out of me if I do that." I said shaking my head, "Just trust me mom. I'm getting rid of them." She nodded hesitantly but to my surprise let it go.

"Fine but I'm trusting you Park. Don't take it lightly." The look that crossed her face made it clear that she was already regretting her decision to trust me with the pills.

I nodded with a soft forced smile, "Okay so what is it you wanted to talk about?" I asked trying to move on before she changed her mind.

We sat in silence for a while as Paige processed what she was going to say. Eventually she asked seriously, "Did we put too much pressure on you?"

My eyebrows pinched together in confusion as I looked at my mom, "what do you mean?"

I watched as she sighed, "I mean with swimming." She stated as she stood up off the bed, "you started taking the pills because of swimming right. Because you felt like you had to be the best because you felt like we were comparing you to Kacey. Did we do that to you? Did I make you feel like you had to be the best or it wasn't good enough."

I knew it wasn't the time and Paige was completely serious but I couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "mom calm down." I said as I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders forcing her back down on the bed.

"I'm serious Parker, I want to know why you would feel like you had to do something like that?" She said as she finally obliged and took a seat back on the bed.

"Mom it's nothing either of you did." I said honestly as I sat down next to her looking her in the eye for the first time today, "you guys have never made me feel like I had to be the best when it came to swimming or anything for that matter. Hell you guys never even made me feel like I had to swim if that's not what I wanted to do."

"Then why did you go to such extremes to be the best?" She asked.

"I don't know." I said with a shrug as I threw myself down on the bed next to her, "just because you didn't pressure me or force me to feel like I had to be the best doesn't mean I didn't want to be the best for myself."

"Why do you put so much pressure on yourself Parker?"

"I guess I just want you to be proud of me for something." I said going back to avoiding eye contact with Paige. "Why do you think I didn't want to tell you about all this? It's not because I don't want to share things with you or that I don't trust you, it's just that I knew you'd be disappointed in me and I didn't want you to be."

"Parker I'm not disappointed in you okay? Maybe a little disappointed in the choices you made but believe it or not I get it." I looked up at her with a blank expression not sure what she meant.

"You know my dad always put a lot of pressure on me to be the best." Paige stated with a small sigh, "He made me hate swimming because anything besides first place or best on the team wasn't good enough. And growing up with him putting that idea in my head I started to put just as much pressure on myself as he did."

"So you popped pills too then." I said with a small smirk, trying to lighten the mood a little, causing Paige to let out a small laugh as she shook her head.

"Not exactly." She stated before continuing, "But I've been there Parker. I had my moments where I cracked under the pressure and made some bad choices when it came to how to handle not being what my dad wanted me to be. I even cracked under the pressure of what I wanted myself to be and just wasn't."

"So how'd you get over it?" I asked.

"Well there was this girl who rejoined the swim team and since she was clearly better than me I obviously had to hate her." She said dramatically with a smile and I rolled my eyes as a smile tugged on my lips, "of course I only did that because my dad kept getting on me about swimming and not letting that Fields girl beat me and honestly I kind of just lost it."

"Because she was better than you." I threw in with a smile.

"That she was." She said. "I pushed myself so hard, just like you did. I trained every chance I got and took it all way to seriously. And even though I wasn't popping pills, I did start to become someone that I didn't like very much." She admitted.

I nodded in understanding about how easy it was to do that before she continued, "But then that Fields girl that I tried so hard to hate kind of taught me to have a little fun and that sometimes you have to be a little fearless and be okay with not being what everyone else wants you to be or even what you want yourself to be and just aren't."

"It's kind of hard to do that though, isn't it?" I asked.

Paige nodded, "It took me a while to do but when I did, things started looking up. I still had to work hard like you but it wasn't such a hassle when I started to do it for myself instead of everyone else."

I nodded letting her words sink in a little. We sat in a comfortable silence for a little while before Paige spoke again. "You know when I was pregnant with you I was so scared I was going to screw you up." She admitted seriously.

I scoffed, "I did a pretty good job at doing that one all on my own didn't I?"

"No, you're perfect."

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, dragging the word out, "I don't know what you're definition of perfect is mom but I'm pretty sure it's wrong if you think it's me." I said shaking my head, "Maybe Kacey or Taylor but definitely not me."

Paige shook her head in response, "Parker it's okay to screw up sometimes, it doesn't make me look at you any differently kid. I love you and somehow even though I was terrified, me and your mom somehow managed to raise a great young woman."

"But I'm not really am I?"

"I know you're struggling to see how amazing you are now but maybe if you stopped putting so much pressure on yourself to be someone who is impossible to be then you'd see that everyone thinks you're great the way you are." Paige said as she swung an arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

"Thanks mom." I said as I leaned into her embrace.

"I love you Parker, no matter what okay?"

I nodded, "I love you too mom."

"Alright now go get rid of whatever you have in there okay, I don't want to ever see it again." Paige said as she stood up, "And Parker?"

I looked up at her waiting for her to say something, "If anything like this ever happens again, could you please tell us. We want to help you Parker okay, but if we don't know anything is wrong then we can't."

I nodded, "I will." I said simply and Paige nodded before she walked out of the room, "Forty-five minutes." She reminded me as she exited, closing the door behind her.

I wiped my eyes that had started to water slightly and regained my composure before putting my backpack back on and climbing out of the window and down the side of the house. I jogged to the corner before stopping and looking down at my phone. It was going to be hard to make it to the house and back in forty-five minutes but I took off running towards Brooke's house anyway.

I ran most of the way there but had to stop and walk a little due to the discomfort of running with a backpack even though it was fairly light. I eventually reached my destination and climbed up onto the top of the fence separating the back and front yard, using it to help me up onto the roof.

I quietly snuck by the window that I was used to climbing into and walked across the roof to the other side of the house, crouching down in front of the window that I was looking for, knocking on it lightly. I waited but when no response came I knocked a little harder, after a couple seconds the blinds were pulled open roughly causing me to jump a little.

"Really McCullers, this is what we're doing now?" She asked after she pulled the window open and I forced my way inside the room walking towards the bed and pulling my backpack off setting it on the bed.

"I have to get rid of this stuff. I couldn't have any of it in my room anymore. Now that my parents know they'll probably snoop around and I don't want them to get the wrong idea." I said.

"Why do you even have anything?" She asked as she walked over to the backpack and pulled it open.

I faced her confused, "What do you mean? I have what you gave to me."

"Yeah but that's not what I asked." She stated pulling out some pills, "I thought you stopped."

"I did, but I just-" I didn't know what to say. I didn't really have a good reason to still be hiding pills in my room, I just had them.

"You know McCullers I really don't like you that much anymore but I'm going to be nice to you anyways." She said.

"Gee thanks." I said sarcastically causing the other girl to laugh a little.

I could tell she was trying to hold back a small smile as she rolled her eyes at me before turning serious, "Look I get it okay, as much as you and me want to fight and hate each other for no reason at all, I get it. I didn't want to be this person either Parker." She said as she stood in front of me.

"You don't have to do that, I don't need you to pretend to feel bad for me." I said trying to move past her so I could leave.

"That's not what I'm doing." She said as she grabbed my wrist, sopping me, "Look I grew up watching my druggy mom pop pills and shoot up until the day she died and I swore I'd never be that person, but somehow here I am."

"No you were there, but you stopped too." I said turning around to face the other girl.

She shrugged before responding, "What I'm doing now is way worse than what I used to do to myself."

"Yeah and what's that?" I asked not sure what she meant.

"Giving people like you things to become these kinds of people. I may have stopped using but I haven't stopped supplying and I feel like that's worse." She said, a guilty look covering her face.

"You never made anyone take them. People come to you and you just give them what they want, it's not your fault and you know that so why do you beat yourself up about it."

"Because I see what it does to people like you." She said softly, "I gave you pills knowing where it would lead but I gave them to you anyways and I never should've done that to you."

"You didn't make me take them. That was my own choice." I said honestly. Maybe she was right but I never blamed her for my problems and I wasn't going to start now.

"I'm sorry, you know that right?" she said sincerely.

"Yeah I know." I said before looking down at my phone and sighing. If I didn't leave right now there was no way I was going to make it back to my house before my time was up. I shot my mom a quick text letting her know it was going to take me a little longer than expected even though I knew she was going to be pissed about it, before I shoved my phone back into my pocket and moved over to the bed grabbing the pill bottles that she had previously pulled out and shoved them back into the bag before turning to face her, "where do you keep them?" I asked.

"What?" She asked looking at me confused.

"The pills. I want you to show me where you keep them, I want to do something with you that I think will help us." I said waiting for her to tell me.

She stared at me questioningly for a moment before sighing and moving over to disappear into her walk in closet for a little while before coming out with a bag of her own, immediately tossing it in my direction.

I opened up her bag and transferred everything over into my backpack, "this is all you have?" I asked before I slipped my arms through the straps and pulled the backpack tightly onto my back looking over at her. When she nodded in response I walked over to the window, "okay ready?"

"Ready for what?" She asked as I crawled out onto the roof. I didn't bother responding as I grabbed her arm forcing her out onto the roof with me.

"Wait what are you doing, what are you going to do with all of those?" She asked gesturing to the backpack while she tried to steady herself on the roof next to me and I closed her bedroom window behind her as she watched me trying to figure out what was going on.

"We're going to get rid of them and then that's it. We can stop being people we don't want to be anymore." I said as I started walking across the roof back to the fence.

I heard her feet shuffling across the roof behind me after a moment and I turned around when I reached the edge to help her down.

"Stop." She said stopping next to me not allowing me to help her get down. "I don't know what you're doing but I don't like it. If I don't give those pills to the people who are expecting me to do you know what's going to happen to me?" she asked panicked.

"I'm not going to let anyone do anything to you okay, just trust me." I said.

The other girl was hesitant but eventually nodded her head and let me help her down off the roof before climbing down myself, "Okay now what?" She asked looking down at herself, "I'm not even dressed Parker, where the hell are we going?"

I laughed at the other girl, "You look fine, don't be so dramatic. Nobody's even going to see you, come on." I said as I grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the street.

"You're going to get me in trouble aren't you?" she grumbled out as I dragged her along with me.

"Well considering that at least ninety percent of the time that me and you are together we get ourselves into some sort of trouble I'm going to say yeah, probably." I admitted with a laugh even though I was sure we weren't going to be getting into any trouble.

"Yeah two girls just walking around with a backpack full of drugs, nothing could possibly go wrong?" She teased with a laugh.

"That's the spirit." I joked back.

When I felt my phone buzz in my pocket I knew that it was my mom calling me but to be honest I was scared to answer. I knew she was probably worried and that she was going to be mad when I returned home but I ignored the buzzing anyways. I knew that she had put her trust in me and even though I didn't want to disappoint her or give her a reason to not be able to trust me I felt like I needed to do this.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys, so I clearly didn't get that up very quickly haha sorry about that but I've been super busy between school and work and I also started working on another Paily story that is more just Emily/Paige based because I know I tend to get carried away with the original characters in this story and that some of you probably don't like that, so I'll post chapter 1 of that soon to see what you guys think of it and if you guys are interested in it. Okay if you're still with me on this story, then I applaud you for waiting for the update because it was damn long so I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Feel free to leave a comment or PM me to let me know what you think if you are still reading even though I lag a ton nowadays.**

 **[Paige's POV]**

"I always hate to do this but we do have one more option for a little information." I said gaining Emily's full attention, "We could always see what Taylor knows."

Emily looked at me curiously, "Would she know anything about this?"

I shrugged, "Maybe whoever gave Parker the pills has been over or something, I don't know, but it's worth a shot, sometimes she'll give us something."

Emily nodded, "Okay."

"Alright I'll be right back." I stated as I jogged upstairs over to Taylor's bedroom door. I walked in to find Taylor already awake watching tv in bed, "Morning baby." I said walking over to her.

Taylor sat up excitedly throwing her arms around my neck when I sat on the edge of her bed, "Morning mommy."

"Do you mind coming downstairs so mama and I can talk to you about something?" I asked.

The little girl looked at me curiously, "Am I in trouble?"

I shook my head laughing a little, "No honey you're not in trouble."

"Are you sure?" She asked narrowing her eyes at me, "Kacey told me that talking with both of you downstairs is never a good thing."

I shook my head at the other two girls already trying to teach Taylor signs of being caught doing something wrong, "I promise you aren't in trouble." I said kissing her head, "We just want to ask you about Parker."

The little girl sighed heavily shaking her head quickly, "I don't think I'm supposed to do that either."

"You're a tough one." I stated, dramatically tapping my chin in thought, "How about this, if you answer mama's questions she'll make you pancakes."

"Okay!" Taylor screamed happily.

I laughed as I stood up, leaning down to allow Taylor to jump onto my back which she did with a squeal. I made my way back down the stairs and back into the kitchen where Emily was, kneeling down when I got there to allow the little girl to jump down onto the floor.

"Mornin mama." Taylor said as she happily walked over to hug Emily.

"Morning Tay." Emily simply stated with a smile.

"Alright munchkin you know the deal." I said as I lifted the girl placing her in a chair at the table. Taylor nodded waiting for questions, "Okay all we want to know is if you've seen anyone hanging out with Parker around the house."

Taylor looked up at me her face squishing in confusion, "when?"

"Any time." Emily said, just trying to get the girl to say anything, "Anyone at all you can remember coming here, maybe a blonde girl?" She asked knowing that Brooke had been here just the other day and figuring that it would give Taylor a place to start.

Taylor nodded excitedly clearly remembering the blonde girl, "Brooke?!" She asked excitedly before stopping in thought before asking, "Or the other one?"

Emily and I both looked at each other surprised not ever really expecting to get much out of the little girl, "There's another blonde girl besides Brooke?" I asked curiously.

Taylor nodded, "Yep but she doesn't come anymore."

"Do you remember what her name was or what she was doing here?" Emily asked.

"Carly." Taylor said casually, "Parker and her mostly stayed in her room, I wasn't allowed to go in when they were talking."

"Why not?" I asked.

Taylor shrugged, "Parker just said so but I could hear them, they yelled sometimes. I would listen through the bathroom and Carly sounded sad."

I looked over at Emily shrugging before returning my gaze to Taylor, "What do you mean?"

"I only saw her one time and she didn't feel good. Parker told me she was just sick though." Taylor aid frowning.

I nodded, "Okay, than you for talking to us Tay."

"Do I get my pancakes now?" She asked looking over at Emily enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah I promised her you'd make her some pancakes babe." I informed Emily who just shook her head at me.

"I'm guessing you want some as well?" She asked as she stood up.

"Please." I said grinning at her stupidly, kissing her on the cheek as she walked by me.

 **[Parker's POV]**

I continued walking down the street, Carly following beside me. "So are you going to tell me what happened to that eye of yours?" Carly asked casually.

I looked at her from the corner of my eye shaking my head, "It's really none of your business."

"Wow someone's feeling feisty today. Come on what happened?" She asked again nudging my side with her elbow.

"Kacey happened." I grumbled still a little bitter about the whole thing and definitely not wanting to talk about with Carly.

"Kacey huh?" She asked impressed, nodding approvingly. "So she finally decked you, I knew it'd happen someday. I sensed she had a little bad in her."

I let out a dry laugh, "No Kacey has zero bad in her, that's the problem isn't it?" I asked rhetorically before explaining what happened, "She got drunk at a party and Tyler was trying to feel her up and I wasn't going to leave her alone with that creep." I admitted shuttering, still disgusted by the whole thing.

"Seriously Tyler?" Carly asked surprised, just as disgusted as I was. "I wouldn't even go for him and my standards aren't exactly high. I mean I made out with you once didn't I, that proves it right there."

I laughed a little at that as I shook my head, "I thought we were never going to talk about that again." I reminded her, "And as much as a douche Tyler is he thought he was more than good enough to grope my little sister so when I pulled her away he sucker punched me."

"We aren't, I'm still pissed that you cheated on my sister with me, I mean really McCullers that's low, but please tell me you did the world a favor and beat the crap out of him."

I shook my head, "Didn't get the chance unfortunately but maybe that's a good thing. I think I'm in enough trouble already. And you know me and Brooke weren't even together then, hell we aren't even officially together now so I didn't cheat on anyone. Plus you wouldn't tell Brooke about that anyways because she'd hate you if she found out her sister went after me for the sole reason that she was interested." I stated smugly.

"That's not true." Carly stated.

"Please you're not even gay, you just wanted to prove you were as good as Brooke by getting someone she wanted."

Carly shook her head, "whatever it was a brief lapse in judgment, I was high as fuck that night. I hardly even remember it."

"You and me both which is why we decided to forget about it and that we weren't going to say anything about it to Brooke."

Carly nodded in agreement, "So anyway how'd the parents take the princess getting hammered?"

"What do you think happened? They thought it was my fault and now that I think about it, I don't even think Kace got in trouble for it. I swear that girl somehow manages to get out of every single thing she does." I said thinking about it, "I remember being the golden child," I said pausing with a sigh, "good times."

"Yeah well we've all been there." Carly stated looking over at me, "It's rough being the older child when your little sister seems to be perfect isn't it?"

I sighed knowing that even though we didn't like each other, she understood, "Yeah Brooke and Kacey don't know how lucky they are. All we try to do is protect them and we do our best to set a good example, yet somehow we turned into the bad influences that they have to take care of and put back together."

"It's a twisted world my friend." She responded dramatically.

"That it is." I said as we approached the lake. We both stopped when we got close to the water looking around.

"Okay I'm sorry, you got me out of bed on a Saturday at the crack of dawn to make me walk to a lake?" She asked slowly as she looked over at me irritated. "If you're trying to make me hate you more than I already do McCullers, it's working."

I rolled my eyes walking over to the edge of the water, "Look you can only flush a toilet so many times before it becomes suspicious and you have too many to flush down at once, you'll clog it and that just gets you caught." I said swinging the backpack off of my shoulder.

"Wait you're planning to dump all of those into the lake?" She asked slightly panicked as I started pulling stuff out of the bag, glancing around to make sure no one was around, "Parker do you know how much that stuff is worth?"

"Of course I do and what did you exactly think I was going to do with them when I took them from you." I said slightly annoyed as she grabbed my wrist stopping me.

"Are you even allowed to put that stuff in the lake, I don't feel like that's a thing that's allowed." Carly stated.

"I have no clue but I'm going to do it anyway, since when do you care if something is allowed or not?" I asked.

"Look you've done your noble deed alright, but I have to give this stuff to people on Monday who are expecting it." She said and I sighed seeing the slight fear in her eyes. "I know you want to help or whatever but this isn't going to help me or you for that matter."

"Just don't go to school on Monday then, it's not like you go half the time anyway." I said truthfully as I yanked my wrist out of her grip and continued pulling the stuff I was out, "Plus what does this have to do with me, I'm not their drug dealer."

"Yeah well I'm not telling them I dumped their pills into the lake, that's for sure." Carly exclaimed as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

"You're going to throw me under the bus?" I asked surprised.

"You would throw me under the bus, don't pretend like you wouldn't." She snapped back.

"I called you when my parents found out didn't I?" I argued back, "And I didn't say anything to Brooke either so I don't see how I threw you under the bus in any shape or form."

"Please the only reason you didn't run to tell Brooke about me having pills again was so I wouldn't tell her about you making moves on me." She said trying to gain the upper hand again.

"You had me so high on pills I hardly even knew what I was doing that night, I probably would have made out with a wall that night, it's not exactly like I was thinking straight." I stated as I kneeled back down by the backpack and started dumping things into the lake.

Whatever." She mumbled before there was silence between us for a moment. "Hey, yeah I need you to come to the lake please." I heard Carly say calmly behind me and I whipped my head around to see she was on the phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked hushed through my gritted teeth.

She just waved me off before responding to whoever was on the phone, "Why?! Because McCullers is over here trying to get me murdered and I would really appreciate it if you came and got control of her. See this is exactly why I told you to stay away from her, I can't stand her, all she does is cause problems for me."

"Why would you call Brooke?!" I yelled angrily, "What's wrong with you?" I asked as she hung up the phone.

"Because you're not listening to me and I need you to stop acting like a crazy person." She exclaimed as she walked over to me and pulled me away from the bag wrestling me to the ground and pinning me.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I struggled beneath the other girl.

"Waiting for Brooke to get here." She said as she used all her strength to hold me down. After a few moments of struggling I sighed relaxing my body giving up and waiting for Brooke who showed up fairly quickly. I tilted my head to the side when I heard a car door shut and saw Brooke running over to us. She roughly pulled Carly off of me and looked between us as I stood up glaring at Carly.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Brooke asked clearly annoyed.

"Your girlfriend is trying to get me beat up."

"I was not but you know what I hope you do get beat up now." I said shoving the girl away from me.

"Seriously Parker stop." Brooke demanded, "What are you guys even doing out here?"

"Parker got caught with pills and she was trying to drag me into her mess." Carly said smugly looking over at me.

I scoffed, "My mess?! You're the one that gave me the pills in the first place I was just trying to help you out."

"Parker are you serious I thought you were done taking pills. You know how hard it was to get you off of those." Brooke said clearly mad, "And you," she said pointing at Carly, "you shouldn't have any either let alone be giving them to Parker."

"I'm not taking them nor have I been, I just had them in my room." I reassure her.

"And I'm not taking them either." Carly stated.

"Why do you have them if you're not taking them? You shouldn't be tempting yourselves like that." She said with a sigh, addressing both of us.

"I'm getting rid of them now aren't I, so what's the big deal B?" I asked not in the mood for this. "At least I'm trying to get away from this stuff, unlike some of us." I said walking over and grabbing my now empty backpack leaving the pills on the ground near the lake.

"Oh here we go again, stop trying to pretend like you're so good and innocent Parker." Carly said annoyed.

"I never said I was." I snapped back, "Do whatever you want with the pills okay but don't drag me into it anymore." I said before walking past both of the other girls and back in the direction of my house.

I didn't get far before Brooke caught up to me grabbing my wrist and spinning me around to face her, "Wait up Park, are you okay?" She said looking at my face, "She didn't do that did she?"

"No." I simply stated dipping my head slightly, "Long story short I got sucker punched trying to pull Kacey off some guy who didn't like it."

Brooke laughed a little, "Seriously Parker how do you manage to get into these messes?" she asked amused as she ran the pad of her thumb softly under my bruised eye.

"Trouble seems to follow me for some reason" I said with a shrug as I smirked at her.

"It concerns me how proud you sound about that." She responded playfully as she dropped her hand back to her side.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "might as well own it right?"

"If you can get away with it, why not." She responded shrugging, "But I'd really rather you not get into any more trouble okay?"

"Aww does someone care about me?" I said teasing the girl who just rolled her eyes and lightly shoved my shoulder which caused me to let out another laugh, "well I better get home, my parents are going to kill me for being out." I groaned, "You going to stay here for a while?"

She simply nodded, "Yeah I think so." She said and I nodded, "Thanks though, for trying to help her, I know she's a little difficult."

I looked over Brookes shoulder at Carly who was staring at us, "Of course, no problem. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah." She said with a smile as she quickly leaned over and placed a small peck on my lips, which surprised me but I wasn't going to complain, before she ran off back towards her older sister.

I sighed as I walked away reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone turning it back on. When it started up I had a bunch of missed calls from Paige and a couple of texts from Kacey. I sighed putting my phone back into my pocket before taking off running in the direction of my house knowing I was going to be in a lot of trouble.

 **[Paige's POV]**

After eating Taylor had headed back upstairs and I had moved into the living room while Emily cleaned up in the kitchen. I was trying to get a hold of Parker but she had clearly turned her phone off considering my calls were going straight to voicemail, but I continued to call anyways. "Parker I swear if you aren't back here soon…" I huffed into my phone.

"Paige?" I heard someone call causing me to stop and turn around to see Emily, "What are you doing?" She asked and I quickly hung up the phone and set it on the coffee table sitting in front of the couch.

"Nothing much." I responded causing Emily to look at me oddly.

"Okay then." She dragged out as she let it go, "You think the girls settled whatever happened last night? I haven't heard much going on up there, should I be worried that one of them killed the other?" She asked jokingly.

I let out a dry laugh trying to sound convincing, "I'm sure they're fine."

Emily's eyes narrowed at me as she studied my face, "Okay what's going on?" She asked with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I leaned back into the couch casually, trying to quickly think of a way to avoid having this conversation knowing I was going to crack instantly as I leaned my head back to look up at her, trying to act like I was fine.

"I mean why are you acting weird." Emily stated as she came up behind me and leaned against the back of the couch. I simply shrugged at her looking away and turning the tv on.

"Alright well since you're not going to tell me what's wrong with you I'm going to go check on the girls and make sure everything's okay." Emily said making me jump up off the couch quickly.

"No!" I said maybe a little too aggressively causing Emily to halt immediately and look over at me, "I mean, we should probably give them a little space." I said calmly, "you know let them work it out themselves."

"If they haven't worked it out by now, they probably aren't going to." She stated before turning to go upstairs. I rushed over to her grabbing her arm and pulling her back down into the living room with me, "Paige! What are you doing?"

"You really shouldn't go up there." I stated getting anxious.

"And why is that Paige?" Emily asked placing her hand on her hip.

I sighed in defeat, "Because if you go up there you aren't going to find Parker."

Emily's eyebrows knitted in confusion, "And why is that?"

"Well I might have let her leave." I said as I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, dipping my head knowing that Emily was going to be upset.

"What do you mean you let her leave?" Emily asked and I looked up to find her eyes narrowed at me, "where could she have possibly needed to go?"

"She was only supposed to be gone for forty five minutes. She just needed to get some air which is understandable after the last twenty four hours she's had." I said trying to convince Emily that everything was fine, although I wasn't sure it was and it was clear Emily wasn't buying that the younger girl just needed some air.

"How long has she been gone?" Emily asked seriously.

I looked over at the clock before groaning, "A little over two hours." I admitted with a cringe as Emily eyes went wide in response.

"Two hours, Paige are you kidding me!" She said angrily.

"What?! It's not my fault, she said she'd be back. She was going to leave whether I let her or not, what did you want me to do?" I responded defensively even though I knew I wasn't going to win this fight.

"Do you have any idea where she was going?" Emily asked as calmly as she could as she pursed her lips tightly.

I knew I needed to tell her that I knew what Parker was doing and what she had left the house with but I didn't want to deal with the repercussions of being an idiot and trusting Parker with pills, especially after just finding out about her previous problem. I hadn't realized how long I was hesitating until Emily's voice pulled me from my own thoughts.

"Paige where is she?" She asked sternly.

"I don't really know where she went." I said honestly before sighing, "But I do know she went to go get rid of some pills she had in her room." I admitted cringing.

Emily stared at me in disbelief, "Why didn't you take them from her Paige?"

"I don't know Emily!" I snapped not needing a lecture to know I clearly didn't make the right decision earlier, "excuse me for wanting to be able to trust our daughter to do the right thing without me having to hold her hand."

"That'd be nice if we could trust her but can we really," Emily argued back, "I mean she hasn't been the most trustworthy as of lately."

I scoffed, "Are you serious Emily. We've been able to trust her for her entire life, so what she messed up and yeah maybe it was a pretty big mess up but what, that means we can never trust her again?"

"That's not what I'm saying but it's pretty clear right now you can't put much trust in her, you did and she clearly isn't taking you trusting her very seriously." Emily stated.

I raised my voice as I argued back, "How do you know if she's taking it seriously or not, you don't even know where she is or what she's doing."

"Well I know she's not here like you trusted her to be." Emily stated truthfully.

I sighed not really knowing how to argue that, Emily had a point.

 **[Parker's POV]**

I finally reached the house and ran straight to the backyard, not daring to use the front door. I climbed up the side of the house and straight to my bedroom window to find it locked. I knocked on the window loudly but Kacey wasn't in there. I sighed and moved over to Taylor's window hoping the window was unlocked, which it was. I slid the window open fully and climbed into the room.

I dropped down to the floor and turned to face Taylor smiling, "Hey rascal, what's up?" I said as I walked over to the bed where she was sitting and threw myself down next to her.

Taylor laughed as she looked down at me, "Where did you come from?" She asked glancing to the window and back to me as her face grew curious.

"Just had some things I had to do." I responded, "What are you up to?"

"Watching some tv." She said gesturing up to the screen.

"Hey what's wrong?" I asked concerned, noticing the girl's mood sadden.

Taylor shrugged hesitantly before responding, "Mama and mommy are mad at each other." She stated sadly.

"What makes you think that?" I asked as I sat up looking at the girl curiously.

"I heard them yelling."

I sighed knowing that Paige must have given in and told Emily that she had let me leave with the pills and that I didn't return when expected, "Don't worry about it okay, they're not mad at each other Tay. They're just a little bit mad at me."

"Is that why they asked me about Carly?" The little girl asked causing my eyes to go wide.

"They asked you about Carly?" I asked nervously, in which Taylor nodded in response.

"I'm sorry I told them, I don't want you to get in trouble." She said and I smiled down at her.

"It's okay Tay it's not your fault. So how'd mom get you?" I asked with a raised eyebrows.

"Mama made pancakes." She beamed causing me to laugh.

"Well in that case I don't blame you for telling them everything they wanted to know. I would have told them if they offered me mama's pancakes too." I said trying to convince the girl that it was okay that she ratted me out, "Did she put chocolate chips in them?"

"Of course." Taylor said as if it were obvious.

"Dang I really missed out." I said actually disappointed.

The little girl nodded in agreement before asking, "So what'd you do?"

"Well at this point I could make a list of things I've done wrong that they're currently mad at me for." I said jokingly even though it was completely true, "but I'm trying to make it better." I explained seriously.

The little girl nodded leaning into me, "Good I don't like it when everyone's mad at each other."

I shook my head as I pulled the girl closer to me, hugging her tightly more so for me than for her, "Yeah me either."

I pulled away from the girl and stood up off the bed, still facing the younger girl, "Okay fair warning Tay, there may be some yelling when I go down there to talk to them, but don't worry it'll be okay after everyone calms down."

"And then no more trouble?" She said.

"No more trouble." I said confidently, "Actually you want to come down with me?" I asked with a small grin as an idea popped into my head. I wasn't counting on it to work exactly but I was a little desperate so I was willing to try anything, "You can be like my secret weapon."

"A secret weapon?" She asked with a raised eyebrow clearly interested, "How?"

"Well if you're with me mom and mama probably won't yell as much or maybe even not at all."

Taylor shook her head, "No they will tell me to go upstairs if they want to yell." She stated matter-of-factly.

I nodded in agreement, "Hmm yeah you're right."

"What if you just don't go down there?" Taylor said with hopeful eyes, "You can just stay in here with me for the rest of the day." I laughed at her excitement but shook my head.

"I think that just might get me in more trouble Tay." I said as I ruffled the little girl's already messy hair.

The little girl's shoulders dropped as she let out a heavy sigh, "That's all I got."

"You did all you could kid." I said dramatically as I started making my way to the door. I pulled it open, stopping in the doorway as I turned to face Taylor, "If I'm not back upstairs in the next twenty minutes come and get me, I may be dead though so be prepared." I teased.

I laughed when the little girl nodded as she giggled, wishing me good luck as I left. I shut the door behind me and took a couple deep breaths before actually moving away from the little girl's room already being able to hear my parent's hushed arguing. I walked over to the stairs and stopped when I saw Kacey sitting on the top steps.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I whispered quietly as I approached her.

Kacey turned her head toward me and sighed, "Just listening in." She said moving her gaze back down to my parents.

I walked over and sat next to her, "Alright fill me in. Is it as bad as I think it's going to be when I go down there? Did you hear, Taylor spilled the beans about Carly?" I asked looking at her.

Kacey just nodded, "You think they'll tell anyone about her?"

I just shrugged, "Maybe I can convince them not to." Kacey simply nodded. "What's wrong?" I asked noticing that Kacey appeared to be out of it, "Their fighting upset you too?"

Kacey stared at me for a moment before answering, "I thought you were avoiding me today, aren't you supposed to be mad at me or something?"

"It is what it is right?" I responded not wanting to fight with anyone anymore, "It's not a big deal, I'm over it so don't worry about it."

"Are you going to tell me what I did to make you mad in the first place?" Kacey asked.

"Nope." I said.

"You know I'm going to find out eventually from someone." She retorted.

"Well then we can talk about it then, but there's no point now, just don't go off getting smashed at any parties alone okay because you clearly can't handle your alcohol, you were a god damn mess." I laughed earning a jab to the ribs from Kacey's elbow as she let out a small laugh.

"Whatever." Kacey said, "So you going to go down there?"

"I don't think I really have a choice." I sighed as I stood up, "But follow my lead and maybe we could avoid yelling for a little longer." I said looking down at Kacey who was looking at me curiously, "Just trust me and jump in after me okay."

Kacey nodded and I started down the stairs slowly, "Hey" I said hesitantly gaining both of my parent's attention instantly as I made my way to the living room.

"Where have you been?!" Paige asked clearly already out of patience.

"I told you I was going to get rid of that stuff I had." I responded calmly.

"Yeah well you were supposed to be back well over an hour ago Parker and why weren't you answering your phone?" Paige asked.

"I turned it off because I knew you were going to call a million times to tell me no when I texted you that I needed more time." I stated matter of factly.

"Parker you need to be more responsible than this." Emily jumped in, Paige nodding her head in agreement.

"Look I know you guys are pissed at me," I stated truthfully, "and that's fine, I get it but you two seriously need to stop fighting with each other over all the stupid stuff me and Kacey have been doing lately."

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked calming down slightly.

"Taylor can here you guys fighting down here and it's kind of upsetting her." I informed the two adults.

"Yeah and it's not the first time either." Kacey said as she walked down the stairs, "You've been fighting kind of a lot since the accident and you're not exactly being subtle about it either."

Paige and Emily exchanged looks clearly feeling guilty as Kacey stood next to me, "Can we please hold off on the yelling, at least for tonight?" she suggested hopefully.

"Yeah we could all really use a break from it all." Parker added.

Paige looked over at Emily, "I think they might be right, I could really use a break Em." Emily nodded in agreement before turning to the two girls.

"Is Taylor really upset?" Emily asked quietly.

I nodded, "She doesn't like that we're all arguing and I know that's mostly my fault but maybe we should spend some more time together. I mean we always used to do stuff together, all of us, but we haven't really had time lately." I said pausing before continuing when no one said anything, "Look I know you guys want to know about Carly and I'll tell you okay but please can we do it another day, I feel like I'm going crazy in this house."

Emily nodded feeling bad about the whole situation, "Okay what if we spend the rest of the day together." She suggested, "We could do something fun like a family game night or something."

"Oh my god, it happened." Kacey said, "Game night is back." She said as her eyes went wide.

"W-what does that mean?" Emily asked to no one in particular as she glanced around at everyone's face go from wide eyed to wide grins.

"Hey Tay get down here, its game night!" I turned and yelled towards the second floor excitedly. Taylor came running down the stairs enthusiastically moments later to join the rest of the family.

"Really?!" Taylor asked excitedly, "What are teams?"

"I got mom!" Kacey and I both exclaimed at the same time before turning to face each other.

"What no way I get her this time." Kacey said.

"What no way, why should you get her?" I asked.

"Because I don't want the other one." Kacey mumbled lowly gesturing to Emily with her head.

"Well me either." I grumbled back. After a moment of thinking Kacey asked, "Kids vs parents?" with a shrug as a compromise which Parker nodded too quickly.

"Wait no way, why do I get stuck with her?" Paige asked gesturing to Emily, which caused Emily to throw a nasty look back at her wife, "no offense honey" Paige responded cautiously as she put her hands up in defense.

"Why doesn't anyone want me on their team?" Emily asked offended.

"Yeah like mom said, no offense brain damage but you can hardly remember anything and I'm not willing to risk you sucking at games that you need to know stuff for." Parker stated as if it was obvious and everyone but Taylor seemed to nod their heads in agreement.

"I'll be on your team mama." Taylor said as she ran over to Emily.

Emily bent down to pick the girl up and rest her on her hip, "thank you baby. I see I only raised one loyal kid." She said as she shook her head at the other girls.

"Traitor." Parker teased in which Taylor stuck her tongue out at her older sister clinging tighter to Emily as she did so.

"Fine you guys can have Tay." Kacey said with a small laugh, "We totally got this." She stated confidently as she high-fived Parker and they ran off to get the games together.

"Why do I feel like I've made a terrible mistake suggesting a game night?" Emily asked Paige nervously as she walked over to the couch with Taylor and sat down.

Paige laughed, "Because you have." She stated as she joined them, "I'm pretty sure a game of monopoly on game night last year nearly tore our family apart." Paige laughed, "We haven't had game night since."

"Oh boy." Emily said as Kacey and Parker came back into the room.

 **[No one's POV]**

"Just because you continue to point at it Kace doesn't mean it's going to start making sense, draw something else!" Parker stated squinting her eyes in concentration as she stood up off the couch.

Kacey quickly scribbled down something else as Parker yelled out guesses that Kacey's facial expressions revealed Parker was nowhere near right.

"Time!" Paige exclaimed with a smirk as Kacey let out a grunt, "it was 'important'. How the hell do you draw 'important'?" She asked confused and frustrated as she threw herself back down next to Parker who had collapsed onto the couch dramatically as soon as the time ran out.

"This is rigged," Parker yelled out, "you guys keep getting all the easy ones." She said as Taylor stood up and walked over to do the next word.

"Go." Kacey said as she started the clock and Taylor began to draw.

Paige yelled out guesses enthusiastically as Parker had been doing but Emily sat calmly on the couch studying what the young girl was drawing before calmly guessing, "peanut butter?"

"Yeah!" Taylor exclaimed happily as everyone else looked at the drawing and then back to Emily with questioning looks.

"How?" Kacey asked dramatically as she leaned back into the coach annoyed, "She drew a square and..." Kacey looked back at the drawing, "and I don't even know what that is, an oval?"

"It's clearly a sandwich and a peanut." Emily said with a cocky smirk and a shrug as Taylor took her spot back on Emily's lap nodding that Emily was right, "Bet you wish I was on your team now dontcha."

Both Parker and Kacey groaned as Paige laughed enjoying beating the two girls.

"Game switch!" Parker exclaimed after far too many rounds of Pictionary, ready to move on to the next game, accepting that Paige, Emily, and Taylor had beaten them at Pictionary. They decided on a game of Twister next, which they were now well into.

Kacey being fairly flexible was able to move her body easily into the normally uncomfortable position on the mat, "Get your butt out of my face." Kacey grunted as she craned her neck to the side causing Parker to laugh and wiggle her butt in the air slightly as Kacey groaned.

"Can we please get a move on it, some of us would like to change positions." Kacey stated looking over at Taylor who had already fallen during the game and was now out and in charge of the spinner.

"Left foot red." Taylor shouted towards Paige who scrunched her face in thought as she looked around the mat before moving her foot over Emily's body and placing it where it needed to be. "We have to stop letting them talk us into this stuff." Paige whispered to Emily who was now underneath her.

Emily let out a soft giggle, "Getting to old there hot shot?" She question her wife.

"Me?" Paige asked mocking hurt, "Never, I'm just not exactly as flexible as I used to be."

This caused Emily to laugh again, "Honey you were never very flexible, you were about as flexible as Parker over there." Emily said gesturing to Parker with her head, who was struggling to get into her new position.

"Hey love birds focus would yah, some of us are trying to win game night over here." Kacey said teasingly as Parker continued to move her less than flexible body into its new position. Parker sighed as she was set and smiled up at everyone with a satisfied smirk when she didn't fall.

"Okay." Taylor said as she spun the spinner thing and waited for it to stop, "right hand green." She called out looking at Emily who carefully tried to maneuver under Paige. As she was about to reach the circle though one of her knees lifted slightly and grazed across Paige's center. Taking her by surprise Paige gasped as her body jolted causing her to become unsteady and fall down onto Emily who then collapsed along with her.

Paige could feel her face get hot as their two older daughters burst out into laughter collapsing themselves down onto the floor.

"Okay game switch before mom gets to excited playing twister with mama." Parker said still laughing, earning her a smack on the back of her head from Paige which just caused her to laugh harder.

"I don't know how much longer I can go guys." Emily said as she stood up tired.

"What?" All three girls whined causing Paige to laugh.

"Who's too old now?" Paige teased.

Emily shook her head, "We've been at it for a couple hours now."

"Yeah and we haven't even gotten in a fight yet, is it really game night if no one gets wrestled down and pinned to the ground." Parker asked.

Emily looked over at Paige to see if the girl was serious. Paige just smiled and shrugged, "She's right, that's usually how game night ends."

"Well maybe this could be a nice game night where no one hurts anyone." Emily suggested sweetly.

"Boo!" Kacey called out, "Where's the fun in that?"

"What did we raise animals?" Emily asked turning to Paige.

Paige laughed, "Em babe we're competitive what did you expect? You should have seen yourself at the monopoly game last year." Paige said shaking her head, "I'm pretty sure you were the one who wrestled someone to the ground."

"What the hell happened at this monopoly game that you keep mentioning?" Emily asked causing everyone to laugh.

"Parker and mom cheated." Kacey said clearly still bitter about it as she pointed a finger at the two girls standing next to each other.

"Allegedly!" Parker exclaimed, "It was never proved." She stated high fiving Paige who was smirking along with her oldest daughter.

Kacey rolled her eyes, "No you guys cheated. You literally went out and bought a second monopoly game and kept adding the money from the other game into the one we were playing from under the table." Kacey explained.

"Allegedly!" Paige stated which caused Parker to laugh more.

"No not allegedly, you guys cheated. I mean seriously who even does that?" Kacey said accusingly causing Emily to laugh at how serious her family took this kind of stuff.

"Okay okay, that's enough. No more talk about monopoly, I'm exhausted and I think we should sit down and watch a movie or something." Emily said.

"Wait but we have a tie." Taylor said as she looked up at Emily.

"Good so then everyone wins." Emily stated as she gestured to everyone with a smile as she sat down on the floor next to Taylor.

Everyone stared down at Emily for a moment as if she were joking before they all burst out into laughter, "oh Em honey, we don't do ties in this family." Paige informed her.

"Why not?" she responded.

"Seriously who are you?" Kacey asked mocking disgust.

Paige laughed slightly, "okay how are we going to break the tie here girls?" She asked rubbing her hands together excitedly.

Parker and Kacey just shrugged, "what do you think Tay? You decide."

Taylor sat in thought for a moment before a smile appeared on her face, "swim off!" She exclaimed pointing to the pool.

Parker and Kacey instantly groaned as they hung their heads, "what's wrong with that? I thought you'd guys be excited for that one." Emily said before looking over at a smirking Paige.

"Come on Em do you really think they could ever really beat us in a pool." She asked raising her eyebrow in question.

"One day it's going to happen." Parker said as her and Kacey walked upstairs to throw on something to swim in. Everyone changed quickly and headed out into the backyard to the pool.

"Okay rules are simple." Paige said, "short raise, each person swims one full lap, first team to finish wins game night. Taylor is the judge so what she says goes when it comes to close finishes."

"But we're allowed to protest if we don't agree with the call right?" Kacey asked stretching out her arms.

"Are you asking if you are allowed to get mad when you lose?" Paige said with a smirk and Kacey rolled her eyes before Paige answered her question, "no arguing Taylor's call, what she says is final."

Parker and Paige lined up at the edge of the pool getting ready to start, "you still think you got it in you mom?"

Paige scoffed, "please Park, I'll always have it in me to beat you."

Parker laughed a little, "alright just don't break anything, I wouldn't want to have to perform a rescue mission half way through the race." She teased.

"I won't, same goes for you though. Your heads getting pretty big kid might be a little heavy wouldn't want you to drown." Paige said back.

Parker just laughed waiting for Taylor's go which came short after. Both girls dove into the water and took off at full speed staying neck and neck pretty much the whole way. Emily and Kacey were both lined up on the edge where Paige and Parker had been moments before waiting for the others to return to the wall. Paige and Parker reached the edge of the pool nearly at the same exact time sending Emily and Kacey off one right after the other.

Paige and Parker pulled themselves out of the pool and watched the other two approach the far side of the pool, disappearing for a moment under the water turning to come back. They too were nearly neck and neck and as they approached the wall Taylor watched carefully knowing it would be close. It was clear that Kacey's fingertips hit the wall right before Emily's but everyone looked to Taylor anyways who confirmed that Kacey and Parker had won.

"YES!" Kacey exclaimed smacking her hands down against the water.

"WOOOOO!" Parker screamed as she scooped Taylor up and ran around the edge of the pool, jumping in towards the middle of it, both girls surfacing in laughter.

Emily pulled herself up out of the pool and Paige instantly draped a towel over her shoulders, "thanks." Emily said as she smiled at the girls splashing around the pool in celebration.

"So why'd you throw game night?" Paige asked as she wrapped her arms around Emily's waist and rested her chin on Emily's shoulder as they stood at the edge of the pool.

Emily shifter her gaze towards Paige, "what do you mean?" She asked playing dumb.

Paige rolled her eyes with a smile tugging on her lips, "you hesitated on your turn and then let Kacey catch you on your way back to the wall."

Emily shrugged turning into Paige's arms, "they both looked like they could use a win."

Paige leaned in to kiss her wife, "yeah I guess you're right, but you do know they're going to brag about this for weeks right, maybe even the rest of their lives."

Emily laughed turning her head back to the pool where the three girls continued to mess around in the pool, "that's alright, let them have it." She said turning her attention back to Paige wrapping her arms around the brunette's neck pulling her into another kiss.

Paige smiled into it as she tightened her grip on Emily's waist but just as she was about to deepen the kiss she felt hands on her back shove her forward causing her to lose balance against Emily and they both fell into the pool.

They resurfaced to see Kacey laughing on the side of the pool. "Oh you're gonna get it." Paige said mocking anger as she quickly pulled herself out of the pool and chased after Kacey who ran across the backyard in laughter trying to avoid Paige catching her which didn't last long.

Emily watched on smiling. This is what she imagined it being like, not that she hadn't been enjoying her family since she had gotten back or that they hadn't had really good family moments since then but the last couple of days had been rough on them and she was glad to be reminded that they were a happy family.

"See we're fun sometimes." Parker said as she swam over to Emily taking her out of her thoughts, "when we aren't getting into trouble that is."

Emil nodded with a smile spreading across her face, "I'm sorry things have been kind of rough around here lately."

Parker shrugged, "It's partially my fault so really I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Emily shook her head, "You have nothing to be sorry for Parker, we know you're trying and that you were just having a hard time. We just want to protect you and help that's all."

Parker nodded smiling at Emily, "So does this mean I'm not going to get in trouble?" She asked throwing Emily a million dollar smile.

Emily laughed "Nice try champ, but not gonna happen." She said as she dunked Parker's head under water.

 **[Emily's POV]**

They had spent the rest of the day messing around in the backyard trying their best to let loose and not worry about everything that had been going on the last few days. The day had gone by fairly quickly and it was already well into the night and everyone had decided to call it a night

"Hey Paige?" I asked as I walked out of the bathroom and into the room.

"Hmm." Paige responded as she pulled her gaze away from the tv and over to me.

"I'm sorry that we've been fighting more than usual lately." I said as I climbed into bed next to her.

Paige shrugged, "It's not your fault, I don't know what has gotten into everybody around here lately but it's been a little crazier than what it usually is."

"Did we used to fight like this?" I asked curiously as I leaned my head on Paige's chest and waited for her to answer.

"No not really." Paige said, "I think we're both just under a lot of stress right now that's all. It'll pass." She reassured me as she ran her hand up and down my side.

"We probably shouldn't argue when the kids are around, especially Taylor. Even if it's not really about us I just feel bad about any of them having to hear it." I said with a sigh.

"Yeah I agree." Paige said nodding before placing a light kiss on the top of my head.

"You know speaking of the kids," I said lifting my head up off of Paige's chest and turning to look at her, "They all had a pretty long day and are probably already asleep."

Paige nodded, "Yeah it was a long day I'm pretty tired too." She said yawning.

I let out a small laugh as I shook my head at the fact that Paige didn't know what I was hinting at, "Paige I'm trying to come onto you right now, please don't fall asleep on me it'll kill my ego." I said as I threw one of my legs over Paige straddling her and leaning down to place a soft kiss against her neck.

"Oh." Paige said catching on as her hands ran up my thighs stopping at my waist, "Mmm well in that case I'm wide awake." She said as her hands on my waist tightened and she flipped us over quickly causing me to let out a small squeal. I let out a small moan as she began to nip at the skin around my collar bone. I could feel her smirk against my skin as she continued to make her way up my neck eventually capturing my bottom lip in her mouth.

The kiss started slow but quickly became desperate as we both began to tug at each other's clothing. I let my hands drift to Paige's side sliding her shirt up and momentarily breaking the kiss to slip the shirt over her head and didn't waste any time to remove mine right after, tossing both off to the side. Paige dropped kisses down my chest, slowly trailing down my stomach until she reached the waistband of my shorts. I lifted my hips up off the bed, hinting at her that I wanted her to remove them, which she happily did. Placing kisses up the length of my legs once they were removed. I fisted the sheets at my sides as she got painfully close to my center teasing me, "Paige please." I begged as my eyes shut causing the other girl to let out a small laugh, the hot air between my legs causing me to buck my hips as a whine escaped my lips, the pressure in my stomach continuing to build.

Paige quickly went to work pulling out all the tongue tricks she could remember as my body squirmed in pleasure beneath her. Just as I felt my body tensing up on the verge of letting go a knock came to the bedroom door, "Not now!" I called out my voice slightly strained.

"Are you guys doing it in there? That's so gross." Kacey called from the other side of the door, but in the moment I didn't really care. The only thing I cared about was the throbbing between my legs that was becoming unbearable now that Paige's head wasn't between them anymore. "Keep going." I husked out causing Paige to smirk.

"You were right they're doing it again." Kacey yelled away from the door her voice distant now.

"I mean seriously could you be any louder mama?" Parker added loudly from what I'm assuming was her room.

"Yeah sure." I called back impatiently and definitely in no mood to deal with teasing of any sort causing Paige to laugh again as she leaned her head back down and rested her body between my legs.

"It wasn't a request, it was a complaint!" She responded.

Emily was about to respond but instead a loud moan left her mouth caused by Paige's tongue returning to her body.

"Oh no way, that's not happening I'm sleeping outside tonight." I heard Parker shout out Kacey quickly agreeing.

"There's a tent in the garage." Paige called out enjoying the entire situation as she kissed her way back up my body as I came down from the orgasm.

My hand snaked up to the back of Paige's neck as I pulled her into a deep kiss, pushing her back against the bed as I climbed on top of her body letting my lips move from her mouth up her jaw stopping to nip at her ear, "Why are your pants still on?" I whispered running my tongue across the shell of her ear as I felt the girl shutter beneath me quickly working to get her pants off.

I let out a small laugh at the other woman's excitement, "I love you." I said as I stopped to look into her eyes.

Paige smiled at me leaning up to capture my lips in a passionate kiss, "I love you too Em." She said against my lips before we continued on making love for the rest of the night, this time without any interruptions.


	21. Chapter 21

**As usual sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, let me know what you guys think when you finish reading, I always appreciate it when you take the time to leave a review :)**

 **[No one's POV]**

"So how mad do you think they're going to be?" Paige asked as she walked into the room and sat down on the vacant couch, causing Emily to look away from the tv and over at her wife.

"I don't know but Paige you and I both know if they have any complaints they're going to try to get you to bail them out of it somehow." Emily said giving Paige a knowing look.

Paige nodded, "I know I know, don't give in. I got it Em, trust me I can handle grounding them." She said confidently.

"Mhm you say that now." Emily teased, "but just wait until they get down here."

"No faith in me huh?" Paige asked smirking.

Emily shook her head immediately, "I've seen how wrapped around their fingers you are, so no, not a bit of faith."

Paige pouted causing Emily to laugh and lift her body up bending across the way to kiss Paige's lips quickly before readjusting back into her previous position, "Better put on your stern face, all that noise should wake them up soon." Emily suggested as the sound of a drill echoed through the house.

"I got this." Paige said quietly.

Emily looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Are you telling me or yourself that?" Emily asked still smirking at Paige.

"Shut up." Paige said laughing slightly, before another voice spoke out into the room.

"Okay I never thought I would have to say this to either of you but I just woke up to a strange man in my room this morning." Parker said as she entered the room looking at Paige and Emily questioningly, "why is there a strange man in my room? This is me asking assuming and hoping that you're the ones who put him there."

Kacey walked down the stairs tailing her sister before anyone could answer, rubbing her barely opened eyes, "mom there's some random in my room and I would really like him and his drill not to be, what's going on?" She asked walking past Parker, dropping down onto the couch resting her head in Emily's lap as she laid down stretching out across the length of the couch.

"Seriously. Do you know how terrifying it is to wake up to a man drilling next to you? It's slightly traumatizing to be honest." Parker added dramatically.

"Relax, he's just installing a new security system." Paige stated simply.

Kacey groaned in confusion as her face scrunched up, "to our bedroom window?"

Paige shook her head, "to the whole house Kacey."

Parker's face scrunched in confusion like her sisters as she leaned on the back of the couch, "and why are we doing this? I'm pretty sure no one's going to break into our house mom."

"Yeah and why does he have to install it at the crack of dawn?" Kacey threw in.

"Well since you and your sister think that your bedroom window is basically a front door that you can come and go through as you please. And apparently when the window isn't suitable you two can't help but sneak in and out of front doors and back doors so we're putting in a security system." Paige said instantly gaining negative reactions from the girls.

"So you're installing a security system not to keep people out of the house but to make sure we stay inside?" Kacey asked lifting her head up off of Emily so she could look over at Paige, who nodded.

"If a door or window is opened after the security system is turned on, I'll know about it, so maybe this will make you two second guess running around at night without permission." Paige stated with a shrug.

"I'd just like to point out that technically I'm not climbing out of windows and such, that would be someone else in the room." Kacey said gesturing to Parker with a slight head nod.

"Wow Kace I'm so glad you have my back, remind me to call you if I ever need help hiding a body." Parker added sarcastically glaring at her little sister who simply shrugged. Parker slightly shook her head before returning her attention to Paige, "Mom don't you think we're being a little extreme here?" Parker asked.

"A little extreme Parker? Are you kidding me?" Emily asked clearly upset, "no, extreme would be locking you in a room and never letting you leave again which was considered so feel lucky that this is what you got." Both Kacey and Parker's wide slightly widened in surprise that Emily had expressed her anger, which hadn't really been done that much since the accident. Kacey slightly scooted away from Emily as the two girls remained silent.

Emily took this silence as a sign to continue as she stood up from her spot on the couch, "Regarding punishments, both of you are clearly grounded so Kacey for the next two weeks you'll be going to school, going to practice, and then coming straight home, nothing else got it." Kacey nodded with a sigh as she looked down leaning deeper into the couch not bothering to argue with Emily.

Emily nodded and then turned her attention to her oldest daughter, "Parker since you've racked up quite the list of trouble in the last couple weeks you'll be doing the same thing, except for the next month. Also any type of training that you want to do, you do it here at the house, we don't need you running around town whenever you want to train." Parker groaned as she threw her head back but mumbled out an 'okay' knowing that she didn't have much of a choice but to accept the punishment at this point.

"Also swimming is off the table this week," Paige added in looking at Parker, the girls eyes instantly widened but Paige continued before Parker could protest, "between grades and the lying I think you need a little time to get back on the right track."

"But what about the meet on Thursday? I already had to sit out a meet and I missed a practice last week mom, I can't afford to miss an entire week of practice and another meet." Parker said clearly thinking it was unfair.

Paige knew what her and Emily talked about earlier as punishments for the girls and that they were unnegotiable. She also knew that Emily had just told her not to budge no matter what but she couldn't help but feel bad as she looked at her daughter's desperate face. She sighed as she looked at Emily who was giving her a stern look, which Paige quickly looked away from before looking back at Parker.

"We'll see what happens okay?" Paige said hesitantly, "I'll let you swim in the meet if you behave but you're not practicing on Monday. You're going to go get drug tested and then when you're done the results should be back by Wednesday and if everything seems good then you can practice and swim at the meet."

"Drug testing? You're serious?" Parker asked slightly in disbelief, "I told you I wasn't taking anything."

Paige looked over to Emily for help. She simply shrugged, "We just want to make sure you're telling the truth."

"What so now you don't trust me?" Parker asked a little upset.

"Should we?" Emily asked maybe a little harsher than she originally meant to, "You definitely haven't given us much reason too."

Parker rolled her eyes even though she knew it was true before looking at Paige obviously looking for some sympathy from her. "Parker it's not that we don't trust you, we just want to be one hundred percent sure you aren't still getting involved with any of that stuff." Paige stated softly.

Parker sighed and nodded, "Fine, whatever." She mumbled annoyed before turning around and leaving the room.

"But I'm still allowed to swim right?" Kacey asked softly, slightly raising her hand to get her parents attention.

Paige nodded at the girl, "Yeah, as long as we don't need to drug test you too. We don't right?"

Kacey shook her head, "No, still the good one with a single night of bad judgment. Just the one time drunk remember." Kacey laughed awkwardly at her attempt to joke, "To soon isn't it, it felt to soon as soon as it came out of my mouth." Kacey paused for a moment looking between her parents before she pointed in the direction Parker went as she stood up quickly, "I'm just going to go while I still have swimming privileges." She said as she jumped off the couch and hurried out of the room.

"Good idea." Emily called out with a small laugh before turning her attention to a stressed out looking Paige, "Relax babe, you gave out a deserved punishment not a death sentence."

"I know that it has to be done, I just always feel kind of bad about it when we have to do it." She admitted with a shrug as Emily walked over to where Paige was still sitting.

"You budged a little." Emily stated with a smirk.

Paige rolled her eyes as a smile creeped onto her face, "Did you see her face? I only gave her a little hope, what's so wrong with that? I technically did nothing wrong."

"When in the world did you turn into such a softie?" Emily teased with a smirk as she lowered herself into Paige's lap, whose arms instantly wrapped around her wife's waist as Emily's arms rested loosely around Paige's neck.

Paige looked up in thought with a small smile on her face, "I'd say the first time you yelled at Parker got me. Those big brown eyes looked at me and I was a goner."

"Really?" Emily asked her face slightly falling.

Paige nodded with a small laugh remembering the situation, "You didn't even really yell at her. She was testing your patience and well you didn't have much that night. You shouted maybe three words in her direction and man the look on that little girls face." Paige paused shaking her head letting out a puff of air dramatically, "goner."

 _"_ _Alright I think you've had enough fun tonight, time to get out." Paige said playfully, looking down at the little girl who simply splashed her hands down into the water again happily shouting a quick 'no'. Paige laughed as she reached down and swiftly lifted the girl out of the tub anyways and onto the floor as she wrapped a towel around her. A laugh left the little girls mouth as Paige swooped her up off the floor once again and carried her out of the bathroom and down the hall._

 _Paige quickly changed the one and a half year old into her pajamas as she got her ready for bed, "Okay all set princess." She said with a smile leaning down to kiss the top of Parker's head once she was dressed, "Let's go see what mama's doing." Paige said excitedly to the child as she set her on the floor and reached down for her hand as they made their way out of the room._

 _Paige couldn't help but smile widely at the little hand that gripped one of her fingers tightly as Parker lead her down the hall and slowly did her best to walk down the stairs as quickly as she could without falling down. Once the two had reached the bottom of the stairs Parker let go of Paige's finger and ran over to Emily who was sitting on the couch with a now few months old Kacey in her arms._

 _Emily told the small child now standing in front of her with her little hands resting on her knees to stay quiet in a hushed tone, receiving a nod from an intrigued Parker who craned her neck to get a better look at the sleeping girl in Emily's arms. She looked up at her mom with bright eyes still clearly fascinated by the fairly new baby girl in the house._

 _Emily looked over her shoulder and saw Paige standing at the bottom of the stairs taking in the view of her family. Emily couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Paige, who's t-shirt had very few dry spots on it as did the sweats she was wearing. "I see you had fun in the bathtub." Emily said quietly as she returned her attention to her oldest daughter, reaching her free hand out to lightly tickle the girls belly as Parker fell into a fit of giggles moving her hands over Emily's in attempt to stop it._

 _Paige looked down at herself and sighed, "Yeah I should've known better than to get ready for bed before bath time."_

 _Emily simply nodded in agreement as she stood up slowly, "Speaking of getting ready for bed, I think it's past someone's bedtime." Emily suggested with a raised eyebrow as she looked down at the little girl in front of her. She slowly stood up with a slight crouch as she rested her hand on Parker's back pushing her forward softly, encouraging her to walk back towards Paige. Parker happily obliged running over to Paige with a slight wobble, wrapping her arms around one of her mother's legs._

 _Paige held onto the rail on the side of the stairs as she easily took a step with the small girl still attached to her limb, "Hold on tight baby." Emily said worriedly as she walked slowly behind them, Parker letting out small laughs every time Paige stepped up a stair until they were at the top and Parker let go falling down onto the floor before standing herself up and racing down the hall towards Kacey's room._

 _Paige sped up her walk, chasing after the girl. Emily entering the room slowly behind them, immediately walking over and setting Kacey down in her crib, "Goodnight baby girl." She said quietly as Paige walked up beside her._

 _"_ _You wanna say goodnight Park?" Paige asked the little girl standing below her who nodded. Emily picked the girl up resting her on her hip so Parker could whisper a quick 'night' to her baby sister._

 _Paige smiled before she placed a quick kiss on Emily's cheek, "I'm going to go clean up the bathroom real quick, can you handle this one?" She asked poking Parker's stomach with her finger receiving a giggle from the little girl and a nod from Emily._

 _"_ _Goodnight little one, see you in the morning." Paige said kissing the girl's head before walking off._

 _"_ _Ready for bed princess?" Emily asked excitedly as she placed kisses all over the little girls face, walking her to the room next to Kacey's. Despite Parker shaking her head no repeatedly Emily carried Parker over to the small bed in the corner of her room and pulled down the sheets before leaning down to place the girl on the bed._

 _Parker however tightened her grip on Emily's neck, refusing to let go of her mother, "Come on Park honey, it's time for you to go to sleep."_

 _"_ _No mama." Parker shouted with a wide smile._

 _Emily sighed and readjusted the small child in her arms before lowering herself down onto the bed, laying down with Parker. Emily let out a yawn as she cuddled up to Parker who squirmed around in her arms clearly not wanting to go to bed. Emily softly rubbed her back trying to soothe the restless girl but Parker continued to thrash around in the bed energetically._

 _Emily sighed as Parker crawled over her body and dropped down onto the floor making a run for the door. "I don't think so." Emily said quickly scooping the girl up, returning her back to the bed as the little brunette laughed. The older woman tucked the sheets tightly around her daughter before kissing her head, "Goodnight baby girl." She said as Parker shut her eyes, Emily turning to exit the room._

 _Emily turned off of the lights shutting the door behind her leaving it slightly cracked as she made her way towards the bathroom to help Paige. She turned around when she heard a faint giggle and saw Parker peaking around the corner of the cracked door. "Parker?" Emily dragged out as she started walking back to the child's room causing the girl to quickly bolt back inside disappearing from Emily's view._

 _Emily opened the door to find Parker back in the bed, quickly shutting her eyes hard as soon as Emily entered. Emily, although tired and not necessarily in the mood to deal with the restless child's antics, couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips at the sight of the little girl as she peaked at her mother through one eye before slamming it shut with a small giggle when she saw Emily staring a her._

 _"_ _No more playing Park okay? We can play tomorrow princess but you have to go to sleep so you're not too tired in the morning." Emily said re-tucking Parker back in before leaving the room again._

 _Emily repeated this process a couple more times before it really started to grow old. Parker was clearly enjoying herself, doing her best to sneak out of the room and run from Emily but Emily had more than enough of the game that she didn't sign up to play tonight. She placed Parker back in the bed and laid with her for a while until the child's breathes evened out and she was sure she was asleep._

 _She exited the room quietly and let out a heavy sigh as she walked down the hall and into the bathroom in her and Paige's room where she found Paige finishing up cleaning it. Paige turned around when she heard Emily enter the room and raised an eye at the exhausted look one her wife's face, "The little one sounded like she was having fun but your face says that you were definitely not." Paige said teasingly._

 _Emily sighed as she rubbed at her face, "I'm exhausted, so no I was not having fun chasing around our wild child but I finally got her to go to sleep."_

 _Emily looked back down at Paige who was kneeled down wiping some water up off the floor with a towel, when she saw Paige's gaze shift behind her and a small smile crept on her wife's face, "Are you sure about that?" Paige asked as a muffled giggle filled the air and Emily threw her head back in frustration as she turned around to see Parker standing in the doorway of the bathroom._

 _Emily took a step towards the girl which sent her running back towards her room. Paige laughed to herself as Emily slowly followed behind the little girl mumbling under her breath as she left the room. A few moments passed before Emily's loud voice broke the silence and the faint sound of Parker's laughing halted immediately._

 _"_ _Oh boy." Paige mumbled to herself before standing up and quickly making her way out of her and Emily's bedroom. She walked out into the hall and leaned against the wall as she took in the sight and she was pretty sure she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces as Parker silently turned her head towards her. Her beautiful brown eyes were wide and not nearly as bright as they had been minutes ago. Paige's face fell as those eyes met hers, water threatening to spill out of them as Parker's bottom lip quivered harshly, clearly not sure what to do._

 _Paige tore her eyes away from their daughter's to sneak a peek at Emily who was wavering on whether to give into the girl or to stand her ground. Paige on the other hand couldn't stand to even think it over as she kneeled to the ground and opened up her arms, Parker immediately accepting the offer and running towards her mom. She threw her arms around Paige's neck and buried her face into her neck as she let out a whimper. Paige felt the hot tears on her neck and sighed as she stood up with the little girl in her arms and rubbed her back soothingly, "It's okay Parker. You're okay." She said softly as she walked the girl back into her bedroom._

 _Emily sighed and rubbed her face tiredly feeling terrible as she stood out in the hallway still hearing Parker's crying as Paige attempted to calm the little girl down. Emily decided to let Paige handle the situation instead of barging into the room and upsetting Parker once again so she walked back down the hall and into the bathroom and picked the towels up off the floor before heading down to the laundry room, tossing in a load of laundry and starting the washer._

 _She turned the lights off downstairs and made her way to her bedroom and quickly got ready for bed. She had just sat down on the bed when Paige entered the room quietly, "Did you get her down okay?" Emily asked looking up at Paige with worried eyes._

 _"_ _She went right to sleep once she stopped crying." Paige said walking over to Emily who frowned._

 _"_ _I literally am the reason our daughter cried herself to sleep."_

 _Paige let out a small laugh which caused Emily to throw her a look, "She's cried herself to sleep before Emily. She's still a baby, babies do that sometimes." She said trying to make Emily feel better._

 _"_ _Yeah but never because I yelled at her." Emily said as she fell back onto the bed groaning, her feet still hanging off the side, "You should've seen her face Paige."_

 _"_ _I did." Paige scoffed, "And as long as she has those big brown eyes that look up at me like that every time she gets yelled at, I'm not. Going. To do it."_

 _Emily lifted her upper body up off of the bed, resting her weight on her elbows as she looked at Paige questioningly, "And what if she has those big brown eyes forever?"_

 _"_ _Well then I guess she's just going to get away with murder as long as she lives." Paige said teasingly, "Or you'll just have to yell at her." She said leaning over the side of the bed, resting her hands on either side of Emily bending down to place a small kiss on Emily's lips._

 _Emily pulled back slightly before Paige's lips could meet hers, "Umm and why exactly do I have to yell at her?"_

 _"_ _Because you've already done it." Paige stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "There's no sense in making us both be the bad guy." She stated before trying to lean in and kiss Emily again, who simply put her hand on Paige's chest stopping her from leaning in anymore._

 _"_ _Oh no, that's not happening. You can't just not ever yell at them."_

 _Paige sighed, "Fine I'll yell at them, just not while they're little. I mean if Parker looked at me like that because I yelled at her I honestly think I might die Em."_

 _Emily giggled at the genuine look on Paige's face, "How old are we talking?" She asked with narrowed eyes._

 _"_ _I don't know when they're teenagers and they hate us, I feel like it'll be easier then." Paige said with a smirk._

 _Emily laughed, her eyes slightly widening while she shook her head in disbelief, "You're going to make me be the mean parent for thirteen years?"_

 _"_ _Yep." Paige smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Emily's lips before pulling away slightly, "Or maybe we'll get lucky and they'll be perfect angels who do no wrong."_

 _"_ _You're never going to yell at them are you?" Emily asked knowingly leaning up to capture Paige's lips._

 _"_ _Nope." Paige mumbled over Emily's lips as she lowered her body on top of her wife's deepening it._

 _Emily groaned softly, "You're wet." She mumbled against Paige's lips._

 _Emily could feel a smile creep onto Paige's lips as she kissed her way down Emily's jaw line, "Well not yet but it won't take long." She stated suggestively as she slipped her hands under Emily's shirt and ran her nails softly over the tanned skin of her wife's stomach._

 _Emily giggled as she wrapped her arms around Paige's neck, "I was talking about your clothes you dork." She said softy as she nipped at Paige's ear._

 _"_ _Oh." She dragged out the word dramatically pretending like she didn't already know that's what Emily meant as she placed one more kiss on Emily's lips before standing up, "I have an easy solution for that." She said quickly stripping her shirt and sweats off as Emily laughed readjusting on the bed so she was now laying underneath the sheets._

 _Paige walked over shutting off the lights before returning to the bed and crawling in next to Emily, who instantly curled up into Paige's body placing a light kiss on her neck as Paige wrapped her arm loosely around the woman next to her, "I'm so tired." she said with a sigh kissing the top of Emily's head, "Who knew kids were so exhausting."_

 _"_ _Literally everyone babe." Emily said with a small laugh._

 _"_ _Hmm right. They're cute though I'll give them that, at least when their mean mama isn't making them cry." Paige teased earning a light hit to the chest._

 _"_ _Don't." Emily whined, "I already feel bad enough." She said as she buried her head into her wife's neck._

 _"_ _I'm just kidding baby, you're the best mom ever." She said tightening her grip on Emily who tilted her head up slightly placing a kiss on Paige's jaw before laying her head back down in the crook of the pale girl's neck sighing happily._

 _"_ _I love you and the girls but no more right?" Paige asked._

 _She felt Emily shake her head, "No way." Emily said immediately, "I think two is perfect."_

"How long was it before I changed my mind?" Emily asked curiously.

"Kacey hit four and you got a real bad case of baby fever. I managed to hold you off for about a year before we started trying for Taylor."

Emily laughed, "Well I'm glad I convinced you that three would be perfect."

"Me too." Paige said kissing Emily.

The rest of the day went by as smoothly as it could've gone under the new circumstances. Parker kept to herself for most of the day, clearly upset by the punishment she received as did Kacey, who was taking it slightly better trying to stay in her parents good graces. Taylor was pretty happy to find out that the two older girls would be spending most of their free time at home, enjoying the fact that she would get to hang out with the girls that were usually busy doing something else.

The next morning Parker seemed to be in a better mood, kissing up to Paige all morning obviously trying to get her mother to agree to let her back in the pool despite her parents original agreement that some time focusing on herself rather than swimming might be good for the girl.

The school day had passed quickly and before she knew it Paige was sending Parker off to the clinic to get drug tested before practice telling her to come back when she was done.

 **[Parker's POV]**

I had just gotten back from getting drug tested and was sitting over on the bleachers watching the end of practice. I was pretty sure I'd be back in the pool in a day or two so I was trying not to stress myself out over the time lost and relax a little.

"Hi." A voice startled me slightly as it pulled my attention away from the swimmers in the pool and onto a girl standing over me, "you mind if I sit?" She asked pointing to the empty space next to me.

I nodded staring at her as she sat down. I had never seen her around here before so I was pretty sure she didn't go to the school, if she had I would've definitely noticed her before now. Her skin was naturally tanned, brown hair falling over her shoulders in slight waves, and when she had sat down and turned to face me I couldn't help but stare into the piercing green eyes staring back at me. I felt my cheeks get warm as a small grin spread across her face clearly aware of my obnoxious staring.

I quickly dipped my head down embarrassed before returning my gaze to the pool, "are you on the team?" She asked. I nodded as I turned my head to look at her again, "why aren't you in the pool? Injury?" She asked curiously.

"Not exactly. Just got into a little bit of trouble with coach, I should be back in the pool soon though or at least I hope I will be." I stated before smiling at her, "I'm Parker."

She reached out and grabbed my extended hand shaking it softly, "ah so you're the star swimmer I'm supposed to watch out for." I raised an eyebrow in confusion causing her to let out a small giggle, the sound forcing the edges of my lips to tug upwards unwillingly, "I'm McKenna, I just transferred here and my dad has definitely done his research on my competition."

I smirked liking that I was considered a threat to the girl sitting next to me, "so you're a swimmer?" I asked raising an eyebrow in interest. When she nodded I couldn't help but ask, "You any good?"

She smiled looking back out to the pool where practice was wrapping up, "I'm okay." She said amusedly with a shrug.

I nodded, "Isn't it a little late to transfer, I mean the season already started." I pointed out.

The other girl shook her head, "My dad got a new job so we had to move here, but there's still plenty of season left."

"Well in that case welcome." I said as some of the girls started to make their way to the locker room and Paige started to make her way over to us. I laughed when McKenna stood up immediately when she saw her coming, clearly nervous to meet the coach.

"Hello coach McCullers." She said sticking her hand out to shake my mom's hand, "I'm McKenna Johnson, I just transferred here I'm looking to join the swim team." She stated confidently with a charming smile.

"Oh yeah of course, I think your father called me last week. He sent me some footage of you swimming, you're quite impressive." Paige returned with a smile, "why don't you come by my office tomorrow and we can get you all set up."

McKenna nodded excitedly before my mom turned to me, "did you get everything you needed to do done? Testing, schoolwork?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am." I said standing up.

"Good I'll talk to your teachers and make sure you're improving in your classes. Did the clinic tell you when the results would be back?" She asked.

I nodded, "She said that they might be back as early as tomorrow."

"Okay I'll call them tomorrow and if they say that you're clean then you can swim." I nodded in response with a small smile, "also I have some things that I have to do around here before I go home so your mom is going to pick you up, she should be out front already."

"Is Kacey staying with you?" I asked.

"No I'll tell her to meet you out by the car. No funny business Park, you go straight to the car." She said sternly and I nodded again as Paige headed back to the locker room.

"Coaches daughter huh?" The girl still standing beside me asked.

"Yep." I said as I moved around the other girl making my way out of the pool area.

I heard her hurried footsteps behind me, trying to catch up as I got out into the hallway. The girl quickly returned to my side again, "so that's your edge then." She stated thinking out loud.

"Hardly." I responded with a dry laugh, "If being the coach's daughter gave me an edge do you think I'd be on the bench during practice this week and possibly sitting out of the next meet?" I asked.

"Hmm, good point." She agreed, "So you don't do too good in school then?"

"What?" I asked looking over at her questioningly.

"That's why your sitting isn't it, at least that's what I got from your mom. She said something about schoolwork and talking to your teachers." She explained.

"Oh. Right." I said shaking my head, "umm yeah I guess the academic part of school isn't my strong suit." I admitted, slightly embarrassed.

"I could tutor you some time. Help you out a little bit." She offered nervously which made me smile over at her, "I mean if you want." She added looking forward instead of at me now, "And maybe you can help me out a little with swimming, since you're supposedly the best around here."

"As much as I would love some extra help my life's kind of on lockdown right now." I said with a sigh, "academic trouble isn't the only trouble I've been getting into lately." I admitted slightly hanging my head.

"You know for a supposed troublemaker you don't seem all that bad." McKenna stated causing me to lift my head to meet her gaze.

"And hopefully from now on nobody will see the bad side." I stated before shrugging slightly, "I'm trying to be better."

McKenna nodded with a small smile, "Well maybe when you're not in so much trouble you can take me up on my offer."

I nodded before my attention was drawn to someone calling out my name. I glanced over my shoulder to find Kacey running down the hallway to catch up to me, "Thanks for waiting sis." Kacey said sarcastically as she reached me causing me to laugh a little.

"Sorry I didn't know I was supposed to." I said.

"Mhm sure." She said before noticing the girl next to me, "Hi."

"Oh this is McKenna," I said gesturing to her, "she just moved here. She's going to be on the team." I explained before moving my gaze to the other girl and gestured to Kacey, "This is my sister Kacey, she's on the team too."

Kacey and McKenna exchanged pleasantries before Kacey looked over at me, "We better get to the car before we get in trouble for taking too long, I wouldn't be shocked at this point if we were being timed."

I nodded at Kacey before looking over at the new girl, "It was nice to meet you McKenna, we'll see you around."

"It was nice to meet you guys too, I guess I'll see both of you at practice." She said with a smile before turning around and walking off in the other direction as me and Kacey made our way to the front of the school.

"I thought mom said no funny business." Kacey simply stated raising an eyebrow at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" I said confused.

Kacey laughed, "Please Parker I saw you drooling over newbie back by the pool."

"What?" I asked denying anything, "I definitely wasn't drooling over anyone."

"Whatever you say." Kacey teased, "Just remember you have a girlfriend already."

"Firstly, Brooke isn't my girlfriend. I mean she kind of is but you know how Brooke is, she refuses to label anything between us. And secondly, I am allowed to think other girls are hot, Brooke doesn't care." I said thinking about it a little more, simply shrugging as we got to the car, "I mean as long as she doesn't know I think McKenna's hot there shouldn't be any problems."

Kacey just laughed as we got in the car, "Hey mama." She said as she got in.

"Hey guys, what are you laughing about?" She asked which caused Kacey to laugh some more as she reached over and pinched my cheek, "Our little Parker here has the hots for the newbie swimmer." She said teasingly as I swatted her hand away.

"I do not, Kacey is just trying to irritate me." I stated as Emily turned and looked at me eyebrows raised.

"Don't you already have a girlfriend?" Emily asked causing me to roll my eyes as Kacey let out another laugh before responding for me, "Parker says she's allowed to think other girls are hot. She doesn't think Brooke would care." Emily shook her head as she pulled out of the school parking lot and headed in the direction of the house.

"You know what you guys suck." I said teasingly as I shook my head, "I don't have the hots for the new girl," I stated pausing to give Kacey a look, "and yes mama I do have a girlfriend already which is exactly why nobody should be saying anything to me about the new girl. Just because I was nice to her doesn't mean I have the hots for her."

"Whatever you say Park." Kacey said smirking as if she knew something I didn't.

The short drive back to the house didn't consist of much more talking until we reached the house and Emily saw a car in the driveway, "Who's that?" She asked.

I pulled my attention to where she was looking and smiled, "Hey grandma and grandpa are here." I said as Emily parked the car in front of the house and me and Kacey jumped out of the car. Kacey immediately ran over to the two people standing in the driveway, but I stopped by Emily's door as she got out sighing, "You alright?"

"A heads up would've been nice but I'm fine, go ahead." She said smiling and gesturing for me to go say hi to my grandparents. I smiled and turned, jogging over to them.

"Hey grandma." I said giving her a hug and then turning to my grandpa being pulled into a hug immediately. He pulled away and smiled down at me as he placed his hand on the top of my head and ruffled my hair, "Hey grandpa." I said smiling.

"Hey how's my champ." He asked causing me to laugh a little.

"Good." I simply responded, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well we thought we'd come visit and see how everyone was doing." Paige's mom said as her gazed moved over Kacey's shoulder. I turned to find Emily slowly walking up to us, smiling politely even though it was clear she was slightly uncomfortable.

 **[Emily's POV]**

"Mr. and Mrs. McCullers." I said nodding my head in acknowledgement, "How are you?"

"Good sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Paige's mom asked as she pulled me into a hug, which wasn't a surprise. Paige's mother had always been very nice to me and I wasn't really nervous to see her again. However, I was a little nervous to be around Nick McCullers again.

"I'm feeling really good, thank you." I responded smiling at the older woman.

"I'm glad to hear that, Paige said you were doing very well." I nodded before awkwardly looking around at everyone, "Why don't we all go inside." I suggested, receiving nods from everyone as they made their way to the front door behind me. I unlocked it and stepped aside letting everyone enter ahead of me before walking in.

The girls tossed their bags down by the front door and made themselves comfortable in the living room with their grandparents. It felt weird being in a room with Paige's parents and her not being here with me, but it shouldn't have. I wondered if it had never stopped being like this with them even within the last couple of years when they were around, or if this feeling of uncomfort was just brought on by the accident. I shuffled around on my feet for a moment before deciding on the open seat next to Mrs. McCullers on the couch.

"Where's Paige?" Mr. McCullers asked looking at me but being slightly lost I didn't answer right away, instead Kacey jumping in for me, "Mom had to stay at work and get some things done before she came home so she had mama pick us up."

I nodded, "Actually I'm going to go call her and let her know you're here so she doesn't stay at work too long." I stated, once again receiving nods from everyone as I walked upstairs and dialed Paige's number.

"Hey Em everything okay?" Paige asked, answering the phone rather quickly.

"Umm not really. Did you know your parents were coming?" I asked a little harsher then intended.

"Coming when?" Paige asked confused, "Nobody said anything to me about them coming."

I sighed, "Now Paige. They're here right now."

"Wait there as in at our house there."

"Yes Paige where else would they be?" I asked losing patients.

"Whoa calm down Emily. I didn't know they were coming okay, they never said anything, probably because they knew you would be uncomfortable."

"So instead they show up out of the blue. So considerate, but why am I so surprised it is your father after all."

"Okay." Paige dragged out before I heard some shuffling on the other side of the phone, "I'm coming home right now, please try to not bite my head off when I come home and don't kill my father either before I get there."

"Ha ha you're so funny, just get here quickly please. Also can you pick up Taylor from her soccer practice, I know my mom was supposed to pick her up and drop her off later but I don't know if I want her over here while your fathers here." I responded.

"Yeah I'll get her, I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay thanks, bye."

"Bye."

 **[No one's POV]**

Emily hung up the phone, taking a few deep breathes before turning to leave the room and go back downstairs. She walked down the stairs and saw everyone gathered around in the living room. Parker enthusiastically discussing something with Paige's father, while Kacey and Paige's mother talked quietly with each other on the other side of the room.

When Emily entered the room everyone paused for a moment to look at her as she spoke, "Paige just left work, she was going to pick up Taylor and then she'll be home." Everyone nodded in response as Emily gestured over to the kitchen, "I'm going to go see what we have so I can get started on dinner."

"Oh let me help you dear." Paige's mother stood up.

"Oh you don't have to do that."

"Please I would love to help you." She insisted and Emily nodded gratefully not wanting to argue with anyone, especially Paige's parents. She turned and walked into the kitchen, Mrs. McCullers following behind her.

They got started on dinner, making small talk that wasn't very important as they cooked together. It didn't take long before Emily heard the front door open and she heard Taylor's voice fill the air as she greeted her grandpa in the other room, soon after bursting into the kitchen and instantly running over to her grandma, giving her a hug.

"Easy Tay." Paige warned as she walked into the room behind Taylor.

"Oh stop it Paige, I'm not that old, she's not going to break me." Mrs. McCullers said.

Paige laughed, "I'd beg to differ." She said as she hugged her mom, earning a small smack to the chest, "I didn't know you guys were coming."

Paige's mom pulled away from her daughter, "I told your father we should've called but you know how he is." She said looking between Paige and Emily apologetically.

"It's fine mom, don't worry about it." Paige said as she walked over to Emily and kissed her cheek, "So how mad are you?" She whispered as Mrs. McCullers was dragged out of the kitchen by Taylor.

Emily sighed turning to face Paige, "I'm not mad." She said wrapping her arms loosely around Paige's neck, "I'm sorry I was angry on the phone it was just a bit of a surprise that's all."

Paige nodded placing a quick kiss on Emily's lips before sighing, "I'll go talk to my dad and see what's going on, okay?"

Emily nodded turning her attention back to the dinner cooking behind her as Paige walked over to the sliding door on the other side of the room, "Dad can I talk to you for a second." Paige shouted into the next room over not really waiting for a response as she walked out of the room and into the backyard.

Nick standing up and following behind her already knowing what it was about. Paige stopped right outside of the sliding door and waited for her father, closing the door behind him when he came out. She turned and faced her dad who had come to a stop a couple of feet away from the door, "Dad what are you doing here, you should've told me you were coming."

"We just wanted to come visit and see how everything was going. We haven't been down in a while and we wanted to see the girls." He responded simply.

"Okay and that's completely fine but you can't just show up out of nowhere." Paige said getting frustrated with her dad.

Nick sighed, "I don't see what the big deal is Paige, what's wrong with wanting to come see my daughter and grandchildren. It was a last minute thing but I thought that it would be a nice surprise."

"You know that you and mom are always welcome here dad but things have been crazy around here the last few days and Emily is still working out here feelings towards certain things and surprises are a little overwhelming for her at the moment."

Nick shook his head, "Look I know Emily has never been my biggest fan and I understand why that is but I thought we worked it out."

"Yes dad but she doesn't remember any of that." Paige interrupted, Nick nodding as he let out a sigh. "Just be careful because she's not in the best mood right now and I don't know how she's going to act towards you."

"Are things okay between you and Emily?" Nick asked looking at his daughter, "I mean since the accident, how are you dealing with everything."

Paige sighed and sat down on one of the chairs by the pool, "We're fine dad, please don't start questioning me about my marriage."

Nick put his hands up in defense, "I'm not I just want to make sure you're okay because you look pretty worn out."

"Yeah well I am." Paige said truthfully, "Like I said there's been a lot going on around here, not just with Emily but with everyone."

"Is it because of Emily and the accident?"

"Dad you can't just blame everything on Emily." Paige stated getting frustrated.

"I'm not, I'm just saying that it can be a lot to take on and when these things happen they can cause problems."

Paige let out a heavy sigh pausing for a moment before responding, "Obviously we've had some times since the accident where it's been hard for the family but she's been feeling better and she's been remembering things here and there. It's been hard but we're figuring it out."

Nick nodded not wanting to press his daughter any more on the matter, "Don't put so much pressure on yourself to hold the family together honey."

Paige couldn't help but laugh, "You do realize how weird that sounds coming from you right?"

Nick laughed at his daughter's response, "Yeah well I'm not the same guy I was back when you were a kid. I'm not the same guy Emily remembers, but if she acts like I am tonight then that's fine, I can take it." He said as he leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of Paige's head, "I understand that the circumstances are tricky so I promise I'll be on my best behavior for you, your mom already made sure I would be, so don't worry."

Paige let out a small laugh, "Thanks dad." She said standing up, "I love you."

"I love you too honey." He said as he threw an arm over his daughter's shoulder and kissed the side of her head.

Just then Parker poked her head out of the sliding door, "Dinner's ready." She said causing Paige and her father to walk over and rejoin everyone in the house. While everyone took their places at the table Paige silently hoped for the dinner to go well and to just be able to get through the night without anyone causing a fight.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hey! Yes I am still alive. I know these long gaps in between updates are getting ridiculous but between having finals before the break and the holidays I've been so busy but I'm doing my best to get updates out (I know, it's hard to believe haha). Anyways I don't know how I feel about this chapter but I felt like I really needed to update so it is what it is. Thanks for reading, let me know what you liked or what you hated, it helps a lot to know (also if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see in the next chapter let me know). Anyways thanks for reading and for being very, VERY patient. Enjoy.**

Paige and her father walked back into the house to see the family already sitting at the dinner table. Parker and Kacey were sat next to each other in their usual seats at the table while Emily sat across from Parker on the other side, an empty seat beside her which Paige took. There was an empty seat at the head of the table which was left for Nick, while his wife sat at the opposite end and Taylor had squeezed a stool she had retrieved from the counter between Emily and Paige in order to make room for everyone.

The table was for the most part silent while everyone began eating their dinner in front of them, a different pair of eyes glancing around the table awkwardly from time to time before returning to their plates. They sat like this for a few moments before the silence was broken by Nick's voice, "So how's swimming going champ, still working hard I hope. In and out of the pool."

Parker swallowed the food in her mouth before nodding, "You know it gramps, I almost beat the freestyle record yah know." She said happily, a slightly smug look on her face.

"That's my girl." He said proudly, reaching over and squeezing Parker's shoulder briefly before turning his attention to Kacey, "and what about my other girl in the pool? Not getting distracted by any boys right?" He teased with raised eyebrows, knowing that Kacey was much easier to distract from training than Parker was.

"No, no boys grandpa." She responded letting out a small chuckle, "and don't you worry about me, I'm right on Parker's heels in the pool. By next year I'll be swimming faster than her." She said with a shrug like it was no big deal.

Parker rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her food, "keep dreaming Kace."

Nick smiled at the slight banter between the kids, loving that they were competitive before looking over at Taylor, "and my soccer player. How are you doing?" He asked which caused Taylor to light up excitedly at the attention.

"I scored the winning goal in last week's game." She exclaimed proudly.

"That's my girl." He said glancing around at his granddaughters with a wide grin on his face, "how did I manage to get three star athletes for granddaughters? I must be the luckiest guy in the world."

Emily did her best not to roll her eyes at the man seated next to her at the head of the table as she tried to ignore the irritation he was causing her.

"And what about you Park, any boys distracting you?" Nick asked bringing his attention back to the oldest girl.

"I don't think we have to worry about that one." Kacey quickly mumbled under her breathe only loud enough for Parker to hear, who immediately kicked her younger sister under the table. She turned back to respond to her grandfather's question with a small smile but her attention was gained by another voice that spoke before she had the chance.

"Or girls." Emily stated under her breath immediately causing Parker's eyes to go wide as she stiffened and looked at her mother who was pushing food around on her plate absentmindedly.

"What was that Emily?" Nick asked leaning his head in closer to Emily, not clearly hearing his daughter in law.

Emily looked up from her plate slightly startled. She hadn't thought she had spoken loud enough for anyone to hear, however she met the older man's gaze and without much thinking decided for some reason to speak up, "she could be distracted by girls as well as boys, that's all." She said calmly with a shrug.

Parker let out an uncomfortable laugh, drawing the attention back to herself, "no distractions here. Just focused on swimming and school, nothing else. No boys...or girls." She said slightly cringing at the topic.

Nick nodded slowly, obviously uncomfortable as well as a little lost on what exactly was happening. He hadn't missed the look of fear that had flashed across Parker's face as soon as Emily spoke or the surprised looks on Paige's and Kacey's face as everyone eyed Emily. But instead of pushing like he usually did Nick decided to let it go and continued to eat his dinner, waiting for someone else to carry on the conversation.

Parker quickly turned to her parents trying to focus on changing the topic to something else without being obvious about trying to avoid it, "speaking of girls though, the new girl wanted me to help her train, she said she'd tutor me in return." She said with a hint of hope.

"McKenna?" Paige asked curiously, which Parker simply nodded to.

"Yeah. I know I'm grounded, so I told her I'd have to ask first but I think it's a win win situation." Parker stated.

"Have you seen the new girl swim Park, I don't think she needs much help in the pool." Paige responded, "She might even give you a run for your money." She teased.

Parker raised her eyebrow in question, wondering if the new girl was really that good or if her mom was just trying to mess with her, "Maybe she just wants a training partner, I think it would be fun to have someone to train with instead of by myself. Plus I could really use the help in school." Parker explained.

"You aren't doing well in school? Why is that honey?" Mrs. McCullers asked from across the table.

"I don't know, I've just been struggling lately." Parker mumbled quietly, "A lot more than usual too, so I think this could really help me get my grades up without having to give up any training time."

"What about Brooke?" Emily asked wondering why Parker needed a tutor when Brooke was already helping her.

"Not sure that tutoring arrangement is working out so great." Parker murmured, getting uncomfortable talking about Brooke in front of her grandparents even though they had no clue who she was.

"No?" Kacey asked with a smirk, knowing exactly why the two girls study sessions weren't necessarily improving Parker's grades, "Why is that?" She teased, receiving disapproving glances from both of her parents causing her smirk to drop.

Parker ignored her sister's comment, "You know what, we can just talk about it later." She said waving it off for now, not wanting this conversation to take a turn to her relationship with Brooke.

"Okay I'll think about it." Paige stated, to which Parker nodded.

"Well are you girls ready for the meet on Thursday? Your grandfather and I will finally be able to see you swim since we're in town." Paige's mother said with a smile, clearly happy to be able to attend the swim meet, her husband nodding excitedly along with her.

"My times have been a little off this week." Kacey said with a grimace, "but I think I'll be okay for the meet."

"What about you champ?" Nick pushed when Parker didn't answer herself.

"I haven't really been swimming lately." She said honestly, avoiding her grandfather's gaze knowing that he wasn't going to be happy about it.

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, glancing over at Paige before returning his gaze to Parker who shrugged.

"I got in trouble and as you heard I'm grounded but don't worry, mom said I can swim tomorrow so I'll just have to put in a little extra practice this week to make up for lost time." She responded.

"I said you might be able to swim tomorrow, it wasn't a guarantee." Paige said surprisingly sternly.

"Right." Parker added with a slight nod.

"Paige it's her senior year, let the girl swim." Nick said, not understanding why Parker would be sitting out or liking it.

Paige sighed, "Dad please not now okay." She said not wanting this to lead to a fight, especially with Emily not necessarily liking her dad at the moment.

"You can't keep her from swimming just because you happen to be her coach and her mother. That's not fair." He simply stated while shaking his head in disapproval.

"Nick dear." Mrs. McCullers said warningly, shaking her head at him to stop when he gazed over at her, "Paige knows what she's doing, as does Emily. Let them parent the way they wish."

Emily nodded in agreement, thankful that at least one of Paige's parents was on their side and knew to let them handle their children in the way they felt was right.

"Oh come on, Parker is an amazing swimmer. She's going to need scouts to see her if she wants to get into a top swimming school." Nick said looking back at Paige, "You heard her, she's not doing the best in school and they don't give out very many scholarships. If they aren't able to see her swim then they're going to pass her up."

Parker shifted in her chair uncomfortably as the conversation focused on her again. And although she knew that her grandpa was right, she didn't want to be the reason a fight broke out at the dinner table, but before she could change the subject Emily quietly snapped at her father-in-law.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't put pressure on my children." Emily said angrily causing everyone to look at her in surprise.

"Em, honey." Paige said warily knowing that this couldn't be headed in a good direction. Emily looked at her wife clearly annoyed as Paige shook her head telling her to stop.

"What? Parker has enough pressure on her as it is, she doesn't need it from him too." Emily said, "We all know what he did to you when he put that same pressure on you as a teenager and I'm not going to let him do it to any one of our kids." Emily huffed out as she crossed her arms, standing her ground.

"Hey I just wanted what was best for my daughter." Nick said defensively, "Maybe I pushed her a little too hard at times but I just wanted her to be the best she could. And maybe I wasn't-"

Paige lightly slammed her hands down on the table cutting her dad off and easily gaining everyone's attention, "Let's not do this in the middle of dinner with all the kids here." Paige said with a tight lipped smile, mostly referring to Taylor who was silently eating her dinner.

"I know I said I'd stay on my best behavior Paige but I'm not going to just let her say these things to me." Nick exclaimed, still frustrated.

"I'm just saying I don't want you doing what you did to Paige, to Parker." Emily stated as calmly as she could, "that's all."

"Emily please." Paige begged, "Let's just get through dinner."

"Can I be excused?" Parker interrupted, asking politely as she stood up, "I have to go to the bathroom." She explained waiting for a response as she stood at the table.

Paige nodded as she sighed and Parker quickly walked out of the room and down the hall.

"Is there something I'm missing here? I just don't understand what's going on." Nick asked harshly.

"Nick." His wife warned sternly.

"What?" He asked, "I'm not allowed to ask what's going on? Parker's been acting odd and now I'm being attacked for stating what I think is in the girl's best interest."

"Hey mom may I be excused for a moment too?" Kacey asked quietly as she stood up.

Paige gestured her head in the direction Parker had walked off in, knowing that Kacey was getting up to go check on her.

Paige looked over at her wife to find her eyes following Kacey out of the room, a guilty expression strewn across her face. Emily tried to stand up to follow the two girls feeling like maybe she was the one who had upset them but was quickly pulled back into her chair by Paige who had reached across Taylor to stop her, "Kacey will make sure she's okay."

Emily looked at her apologetically, "I shouldn't have started anything Paige, I should go make sure everyone's okay."

"Kacey's got it for now, you can talk to her later." Paige said again trying to reassure her that it was fine.

Emily nodded even though she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't intended to start an argument at dinner over the girl but couldn't help herself. Something about Nick had been irking her all night and she had slipped up by accident.

So instead of continuing on with the fight she silently finished her dinner with the rest of the table while they waited for the girls to get back.

"Park." Kacey said as she lightly knocked on the bathroom door. Kacey didn't get a response but twisted the knob anyways opening the door to find Parker leaned against the wall on the floor with her head in her hands.

Kacey walked in closing the door behind her as she sat next to Parker, "why did she have to start a fight?" Parker asked as she lifted her head annoyed, "especially over me and let's not forget the fact that she might as well have just announced I was gay at the very beginning of dinner."

Kacey couldn't help but laugh a little at the dramatic tone in the other girl's voice, earning a shove to the shoulder from Parker, "it's not funny, she never was one to put her foot in her mouth, that's usually mom's thing." Parker stated, not being able to keep a small smile from her face as she dropped her head onto Kacey's shoulder, thinking of all the times Paige had accidentally said the wrong thing and how she would immediately panic trying desperately to cover whatever she had said up.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not funny and you're right she usually doesn't do that but I guess she does now." Kacey said the smile still evident in her voice, "I thought you were going to tell him anyways though, so maybe this isn't so bad. Plus technically no one blatantly said you were gay."

"I was going to tell him." Parker said with a small sigh, "but I don't know, I wasn't going to do it at the dinner table, especially not in the middle of an argument. And I probably would have liked to ease into it a little more."

"Do you really think he's going to care, I mean he's fine with mom and mama's relationship."

"Yeah now, but he wasn't before." She said honestly, "Do you see mama out there? I can't believe she hasn't dove across the table to strangle the man. It doesn't seem like the most stable relationship they have going Kace."

Kacey laughed knowing her sister was right, "Well you got me there, she's been shooting daggers at him all night." Parker nodded as she laughed along with Kacey until they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Do you think she'll ever be the same?" Parker asked as she lifted her head off of her sister's shoulder to look at her.

Parker immediately regretted asking the question when Kacey's face fell, but she stared at the girl next to her anyways and waited patiently for an answer. After a few moments of silence Kacey answered with a simple, "no."

"Yeah me either." Parker said quickly agreeing with her sister as she stood up and reached down to pull Kacey up off of the floor, "Am I a terrible person for being so over this whole thing."

"Probably." Kacey said letting out a small laugh as she let her sister pull her up, "but honestly so am I. I mean it's been a couple of months and she still hasn't remembered much from before."

Parker nodded sadly, "She kind of just settled in and tried to get back into her routine but she's definitely different."

Kacey nodded before sighing and looking up in thought causing Parker to look at her weirdly as she waited for the girl to speak, "If I ask you something do you promise not to make me elaborate on it?" Kacey finally asked quietly.

Parker eyed the girl curiously, "Sure." She said, dragging out the word slowly, still not sure what this was all about.

"If you knew something…" Kacey asked pausing as she tried to think of how to go about this, "if you knew like a secret that mama didn't remember would you tell her, even if you think it might be something that you don't really know the whole story to? Maybe something bad but you feel like it should be addressed?"

Parker was taken back by the question. She watched as Kacey's eyes shifted down to her own feet as she swallowed hard, "Umm what do you mean bad?"

Kacey shook her head, "You know what never mind." She said as she took a deep breath and composed herself.

"Wait you can't just say something like that and then say never mind." Parker stated in disbelief, wanting to know what Kacey knew.

"You said you wouldn't make me elaborate on it." Kacey reminded her.

"Yeah but I didn't think you were going to say something like that."

"Look it's nothing okay. I'm just a mess over this whole accident thing and sometimes it just gets to me that's all. Don't worry about it, I just kind of lose my head sometimes." Kacey said regretting bringing what was bothering her up. She knew she shouldn't have said anything to Parker but she didn't know what to do about her problem and she was used to going to Parker for help whenever she was conflicted with something. However this wasn't something that she thought Parker would take well so she felt like she had to keep it to herself.

"Come on, we're going to go drop the gay bomb at dinner." Kacey said confidently walking out of the bathroom, trying to distract her sister from what she had just said.

Parker smirked in amusement as she followed Kacey, "I'm sorry, we're going to do what now?"

Kacey stopped in the hallway and turned to face her older sister, happy that she seemed to have let go of their previous conversation, "I mean we might as well get everything out in the open. I think it's safe to say dinner's ruined so let's just put it all out there. Come on Parker, you were going to do it anyway and this is a perfect opportunity." Kacey explained.

"Should I be concerned that you're now the one who wants to cause trouble instead of me?" Parker asked with a raised eyebrow, "I'm not sure how I feel about your recent acting out."

Kacey scoffed, "telling everyone you're gay at dinner is not acting out Parker. It's just being honest and I think this will be good for you. Everyone will know if you tell him and you finally won't have to worry about it."

"Maybe not but you want to stir up trouble and you know it." Parker said with a pointed look.

"Fine, maybe a little but I can do that some other time. Right now is about you, trust me you got this." She responded with a sure nod.

"I guess now's as good a time as any." Parker said, Kacey let out a small squeal giving her sister a large smile before she turned and walked down the hall and to the kitchen.

Parker quickly followed, feeling odd that she and Kacey had seemed to swap confidences. She was slightly intimidated by what was about to happen, while Kacey seemed to be a lot more bold than usual, which just made her even more nervous.

When Parker walked into the kitchen Kacey was standing behind her chair confidently waiting for her sister to join her. She walked over to her chair and stood behind it, not completely sure what was about to happen as she waited for her sister to speak.

All eyes were bouncing between the two girls as Emily's voice broke the silence, "is everything okay?"

Kacey shook her head immediately, "nope." Paige eyes slightly widened at the quickness and sureness in the answer, her eyes roaming over to Parker who remained silent with her head down as she fidgeted with her hands.

"Okay so you know we love you guys," Kacey said looking between her grandparents who nodded, "good. So since we love you, we wanted to be honest with you guys about a couple of things going on in our lives." Kacey said pausing to look over at Parker to make sure she was still with her. When Parker didn't do anything Kacey lightly hit the girls shoulder with the back of her hand.

Parker's head snapped up quickly to meet her sisters gaze, "oh, right, yeah." Parker stammered out as she lifted her hand to scratch the back of her neck moving her eyes to her grandpa, "umm just a few things that we feel we should let you in on, I guess."

"Actually can I talk to you girls for a moment?" Paige asked worriedly as she started to stand up, not wanting to deal with who knows what was about to be said. She wasn't exactly sure where this was headed and by the puzzled look on everyone else's faces she could tell she wasn't the only one.

Kacey quickly gestured for Paige to sit back down, "we'll make it brief mom don't worry."

Paige's eyes moved to Parker, who looked like she was about to pass out, trying to catch her daughter's attention to figure out what was going on but her oldest daughters eyes were glued to her little sister again as she looked on in the same surprise as everyone at the table.

"Okay so I don't really have much to say here." Kacey said as she placed a hand on Parker's shoulder and squeezed it gently in reassurance, "but Parker does have something she would like to share." She stated as everyone looked at her in anticipation and confusion, "alright then we'll just get to it. Parker?"

Parker nodded, "Okay I guess it's my turn to talk." She said nervously as she shuffled on her feet a little as she took a deep breath.

"Honey, are you okay?" Emily asked worriedly as she stood up from her seat, noticing the paleness of Parker's face. Emily was going to walk over to the other girl who looked like she was going to pass out but Parker simply blurted out, "I'm gay." Before she could even get to her.

"Wow." Parker let out a puff of air as she grinned a little, "Man that can be a stressful thing to say can't it." Parker said with a nervous laugh before pausing when nobody said anything. She looked around the table, before stopping at her grandpa who was simply staring at her, "Feel free to comment, or not, you know whatever, take your time." Parker stammered on as the nervousness reentered her at an all-time high.

Nick nodded his head slowly before clearing his throat, "Am I the last to know?"

Parker simply nodded her head.

"I'm sorry." Nick said as he stood up. This caused Parker to scrunch her face up in confusion. Nick walked over to the girl and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her in for a hug. Parker taken slightly off guard didn't respond immediately but returned the hug after a moment looking over his shoulder at Kacey in question. Kacey shrugged and mouthed, what Parker thinks was, "go with it."

It wasn't long before Nick pulled away slightly, keeping his hands on Parker's shoulders, "So it's okay then?" Parker asked hesitantly.

"Of course it is champ." Nick said honestly and he couldn't keep a smile from forming on his face when Parker looked up at him with a smile of her own that spread across her face from ear to ear. "I'm sorry you ever felt like it wasn't okay." He said removing one hand from Parker's shoulder, bringing it up to ruffle her hair which caused the girl to laugh in relief.

"I know I did a lot of things wrong with your mom." Nick stated honestly, "Well actually both of your moms." He corrected, "But like I tried to explain earlier, I realized what I did wrong back then and I'm doing my best to make up for it."

Paige smiled at her dad, happy that her oldest daughter's confession was taken much better than it had been when she made the same one at a dinner many years before. Paige snuck a glance at Emily who also couldn't help but smile proudly at Parker as she interacted with her grandpa.

"See Park, told you he wouldn't care." Kacey said as she swung an arm across her sister's shoulders pulling her back over to her seat, "Well I think this was a pretty successful family dinner."

Paige laughed, "Yeah on what planet kid?"

Everyone laughed, the mood slightly lighter as everyone sat back down in their seats, "Well it hasn't been our worst." Mrs. McCullers admitted.

"That's true." Paige said as she looked over at Emily, "We've had far worse."

The rest of dinner went smoothly as easy conversation filled the table. They finished up eating fairly quickly and the three girls had disappeared off into the living room when dinner was over, as the adults stuck around the kitchen to clean up. "Emily, can I speak to you for a minute?" Nick asked as he gestured to the backyard.

Emily looked over to Paige who nodded before turning back to Nick, "Yeah, of course." Emily followed Nick out into the backyard to where he had spoken to Paige earlier and waited for him to speak.

"I'm sorry about dinner Emily. I didn't intentionally mean to put any unwanted pressure on Parker and I definitely never intended to tell you and Paige how to raise or treat your kids. You guys seem to be doing just fine without my advice." He said genuinely, "I also know that we're not on the best terms due to the accident and I understand that, but I am trying here and as much as you don't necessarily appear to want to it's a two sided thing Emily and if this is going to work, I'm going to need you to at least work with me a little bit."

Emily nodded in complete understanding, feeling foolish for acting the way she did at dinner, "I'm sorry as well. I lost my head for a moment in there and I shouldn't have said what I did to you about Paige."

Nick nodded with a tight lipped smile, "Paige and I have built a very good relationship over the years, much better than the one we had when she was young. I'm not the same person and I know that you'll figure that out for yourself." He said surely, "You know you and I actually got a long fairly well once the kids were born and we gave each other a shot."

Emily smiled a little as she nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. Again I'm sorry for this whole thing, I was just a little caught off guard when you showed up unexpected, but I hope we can get back to where we were before the accident."

"Me too." Nick responded, "And I don't want to cross any lines and I don't want to get involved in my daughter's marriage especially when I don't have any idea what is going on around here, but maybe just try to take it easy on Paige."

Emily was taken back by that, "What do you mean?" She asked wondering if Paige had said something to him.

Nick shrugged, "She just seems tired, that's all. I don't want her to over work herself or run herself into the ground trying to deal with everything that is going on around here with you and the kids."

Emily nodded slowly still trying to figure out what made Nick ask her to take it easy on Paige, "Did she say something?"

Nick quickly shook his head, "No she didn't. Not that she would though if something was wrong, you know Paige better than any of us. She's kind of stubborn and I think for some reason admitting she's not okay hurts her pride a little." Emily nodded again curiously before Nick gestured to the house, "Well anyways we better get back inside before Paige thinks we've killed each other."

Emily let out a small laugh and nodded returning to the house behind her father-in-law. Nick walked off into the living room where everyone but Paige had run off to, while Emily walked over to come up behind her wife who was rinsing off dishes. Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder.

"You alright?" Paige asked as she turned the sink off and turned around in her wife's arms.

"Mhm." Emily nodded as she leaned in to briefly connect her and Paige's lips, "I'm sorry about dinner."

"Don't worry about it, like it was discussed at dinner, we've had far worse." Paige teased as she wrapped her arms tightly around Emily to try to get her to feel like it wasn't a big deal.

"Do you think Parker's okay?" Emily asked pulling away slightly.

Paige nodded, "I'm sure she's going to be just fine. Maybe even better now that everyone knows she's gay and she can just be herself."

"Yeah, you're right." Emily sighed, "What about you, are you alright?"

Paige gave her a confused look, not sure why Emily would be asking that, "Yeah I'm fine, why?"

Emily simply shrugged as she studied the other girls face, trying to see if she was telling the truth, "No reason, just asking." She responded with a tight lipped smile deciding to just let what Paige's father had said to her go for now.

Paige eyed Emily weirdly, "Okay then." Paige laughed, "Do you want to go join the others?" She asked lifting her hand to point towards the living room.

"Not really." Emily stated honestly as she backed Paige up against the sink giggling at Paige's surprised face as she pressed her body against Paige's and leaned in to connect their lips.

Paige turned her head slightly causing Emily to catch her cheek instead of her mouth, "Emily, my parents are in the next room." Paige whispered dramatically as Emily chased Paige's lips with her mouth, catching Paige off guard and connecting their lips. Paige momentarily gave in and kissed Emily back, "Okay that's enough." Paige said quietly while pulling away.

"Come on Paige, we're married, we're allowed to kiss." Emily whined, "Plus nobody is going to come in here." Emily stated as she looked behind her before leaning back in. This time Paige complied and kissed her wife back when she leaned in, moving the hands that previously remained at her side up to rest on Emily's hips. Paige hummed into the kiss causing Emily to smile victoriously as she deepened it.

Hands started to roam probably a little too freely for being in the kitchen with Paige's family in the next room as the two women completely relaxed into the kiss. Paige wasn't sure how long they had stood there lost in the kiss when someone clearing their throat interrupted them.

Paige and Emily immediately pulled apart and turned to find Mrs. McCullers standing in the entryway of the kitchen. Paige let out a small groan, "What was that you were saying about no one coming in?" Paige whispered to Emily, "Something you learn once you have kids Em, someone always comes in."

Emily grinned at the blush creeping up Paige's cheeks, "Sorry Mrs. McCullers." Emily said shyly.

Paige's mom simply laughed at the two women in front of her, "Relax girls, I've left you two in charge of the dishes more than once in my life and let's just say I am more than aware what was happening in my kitchen when I left you two unattended." She smirked with a knowing look, making Paige's blush grow deeper, "It doesn't take anyone this long to do dishes. It never has."

"I guess we weren't as slick as we thought we were." Emily teased, nudging an already embarrassed Paige.

"No and it looks like you haven't gotten any slicker." Mrs. McCullers responded without missing a beat.

"Sorry mom, we were just coming in to join you guys." Paige said.

"Don't worry dear, me and your father are going to get out of your hair for the night."

"You aren't staying here?" Paige asked.

"Oh no honey, I think you have enough people in the house as it is." Paige's mom insisted, "We already spoke to the Fields and they said that we were more than welcome to stay with them."

Emily's eyes widened in surprise, "the Fields as in my parents the Fields?"

Mrs. McCullers laughed, "Yes your parents Emily."

"Does my mom know?" She asked not being able to believe that her mom would agree to this.

"Yes. Believe it or not your mother and my husband can be civil with each other nowadays. Of course they still don't necessarily like each other but they spend enough time together where they have learned to tolerate one another." She admitted.

"It's true, they have and it never stops being weird." Paige said to Emily as she laughed and walked over to say goodbye to her mother, Emily doing the same thing right after Paige.

They walked out to the living room where the three girls had already appeared to say their goodbyes to their grandparents and had returned to the couch. Paige and Emily both said a quick goodbye to her father and then walked Paige's parents out to their car, waiting outside until it drove away.

"See that wasn't so bad." Paige said to Emily with a shrug as they walked back to the front door.

Emily gave her an unconvinced look, "Yeah it went so great." She said sarcastically with a small chuckle.

Paige laughed, "You can't really hate them that much babe, come on."

"I love your mother and I guess your father does seem like he got a little bit better, but he's still slightly intolerable for me." Emily said honestly, "He said we got along pretty well before the accident though."

"You did." Paige confirmed with a nod as she opened the front door for her wife, "And like your mother and my father getting along, it never stopped being weird to watch you willingly interact with my dad."

"Whatever." Emily said with a laugh as she nudged Paige with her elbow before walking back into the house, Paige following behind her.

They walked into the living room to find the three girls messing around and joking with each other as they watched tv, "Didn't we punish them?" Emily whispered to Paige, who nodded. "They look like they're having too much fun."

"Go ahead, remind them they're grounded. I'm sure they're expecting it from you anyway sergeant." Paige said teasingly, earning a small glare from her wife.

Emily walked over and turned off the tv gaining the attention of the girls immediately, "Bed time." Emily said getting groans from everyone.

"Come on Mama it's not even 8 yet." Parker informed her.

"I know." She said, "It's also a school night and if I remember correctly you two are grounded so you shouldn't even be down here having anything that is remotely close to fun." She said sternly.

Parker and Kacey looked at each other knowing that this was a battle they weren't going to win, so instead of trying to convince Emily to let them stay up a little longer they got up off the couch and made their way to the stairs.

"What about me mama?" Taylor asked innocently as she stood on the edge of the couch bringing her to just about eye level with Emily, "Can I stay up with you and mommy since I'm not in trouble."

Emily shook her head as she wrapped her arms around the little girl, lifting her with ease, "Not tonight baby. You have school tomorrow too, so you all should be getting ready for bed."

A small pout made its way onto the little girls face but she nodded anyway. Emily planted a lingering kiss on the girl's cheek before gently placing her on the ground and letting her run off up the stairs after her older sisters.

Emily watched the three girls until they disappeared from her sight and then let out a heavy sigh as she dropped down onto the couch.

"Is it weird that I kind of like it when you're in control like that?" Paige asked as she sat down on the couch, dropping her arm around Emily who instinctively cuddled in closer to her wife.

"Should I start telling you to go to bed too?" Emily teased.

"Only if you're following behind me." Paige stated suggestively as she leaned her head down to press a kiss to Emily's temple, not being able to keep the small laugh from escaping her mouth.

Emily hummed in response, "Noted." She said.

"Tired?" Paige asked as she ran her fingers lightly through Emily's hair.

"So tired." Emily whined, causing Paige to laugh again.

Paige stood up and reached her hand down to help Emily up off of the couch, "Come on, let's go say goodnight to everyone and then we can call it a night a little early too."

 **[the next morning]**

"How?" Emily groaned as she felt Paige roll over to turn off the alarm before rolling back into her previous position, in which Emily nuzzled her face back into Paige's neck, "How is it morning already?" she mumbled against the skin of her wife's neck closing her eyes tightly.

Paige let out a small laugh as she maneuvered herself into a sitting position without moving Emily around too much. She stretched her arms out while rubbing sleep from her eyes as she looked down at Emily, who groaned and buried her face deeper into her pillow. Paige couldn't help the small smile that crept on her face as she leaned down to place a kiss on the side of Emily's head.

"Time to get up babe." She said as she slid out of bed and walked over to the bathroom to start getting ready for work. She came out of the bathroom a few moments later to find Emily fast asleep once again. Paige shook her head as she walked out of the room deciding that there was no harm in letting her wife sleep in for a few more minutes.

Paige walked past Taylor's room, knowing that it didn't take the little girl nearly as long to get ready as it took the older girls, which pleasantly earned her a little more sleep if she wasn't already up. Paige walked down the hall and knocked on the older girl's bedroom door, "You guys up?" she asked loudly as she opened the door and peered into the room.

She opened the door a little wider to find Kacey sprawled out wildly across her bed and the bed on the other side of the room already empty. She could hear the shower running as she stepped into the room and noticed the light from under the bathroom door on, figuring Parker had already started getting ready for school as she usually did.

Paige walked over to Kacey and gently shook her shoulder. "Kace time to get up kid." She said receiving a groan similar to the one she had just gotten from Emily as the girl scooted her body away from her mother's touch. Paige shook her head before her attention was pulled away from Kacey and over to the bathroom door that was swinging open.

"Mornin mom." Parker said as she walked into the room.

"Morning kiddo, mind making sure this one gets up in a couple of minutes for me?" Paige asked walking back over to the bedroom door.

"Yeah I got her." Parker responded absentmindedly as she started digging through her dresser drawer looking for something to wear.

Paige threw a quick 'thanks' over her shoulder in Parker's direction before she exited the room and walked downstairs. She entered the kitchen not even bothering to turn on any lights as she pulled a mug out of one of the cabinets and made a b-line for the coffee maker. She poured herself a small cup and sipped on it until it was empty before pouring a larger cup of coffee and walking back upstairs to her bedroom.

Paige walked back into the room to find Emily finally sitting up in the bed, "morning sunshine." Paige teased, not being able to keep the small laugh that came out of her mouth at the sight of Emily's messy hair and slightly grumpy face.

"Someone failed to turn off the alarm all the way and it went off again." Emily said with a slight glare as she ran a hand through her messy hair, "would you happen to know anything about that?"

Paige squinted her eyes at her wife as she pursed her lips pretending to think about whether she actually turned the alarm off or not, "hmm I could've sworn I shut that thing off."

Emily shook her head at Paige a small smile creeping on her lips, "whatever you say honey." Emily said knowingly as she glanced at Paige who had walked closer to her, noticing the mug in her hand immediately and letting out a soft hum at the thought of coffee. Emily reached her hand out towards Paige signaling that she wanted it.

Paige shook her head as she laughed at her wife's desperation, "there's more downstairs lazy bones, you are more than welcome to go get your own cup."

Emily pouted as she dropped her hand back down on the bed, "please." She said throwing her best puppy dog eyes at Paige.

Paige shook her head at her wife's antics but walked over to Emily anyway. Emily's pout was immediately replace with a wide smile as she came out victorious, which when it came to Paige she usually did.

Paige gave over the cup to Emily who leaned up to kiss Paige's cheek quickly in appreciation before sipping the coffee and moaning in delight as her eyes closed. Paige chuckled at the dramatic response Emily had to coffee nowadays and turned around to go finish getting ready.

"Wait." Emily said suspiciously, causing Paige to halt and turn back around. Emily pointed down at the mug in her hand looking at Paige in question, "this isn't how you even like your coffee, this is how I like my coffee."

Paige shrugged with a smirk on her face, "well what can I say I'm the best wife ever." She said winking at Emily.

Emily shook her head and smiled, "You know I already married you Paige, you don't have to make me swoon over you anymore, you already have me won over." she explained before continuing with her coffee.

Paige shrugged as she made her way back to Emily, "Lucky for you I'm in a good mood this morning." Paige said leaning down to connect her lips to Emily's. Paige pulled away slowly and licked her lips being able to taste the coffee on Emily's lips, "And I can't help it, I'm a sucker for you. I like to make you swoon when I can." She admitted kissing her wife once more.

Emily pulled away slightly, smiling up at Paige, "I love you." She said and she loved the way that the corner of Paige's lips tugged upward involuntarily and the look she got in her eyes every time Emily said it to her no matter how many times the three words had been spoken in the past.

"I love you too." Paige said as she leaned in to connect their lips one last time before pulling away, "And as much as I would love to stay here and show you just how much I love you, if we don't get up and moving we're going to be late." Paige said causing Emily to chuckle as she nodded her head in agreement.

Emily took another sip of her coffee before setting it on the nightstand next to the bed and getting up, walking over to the bathroom to get ready along with Paige. When she was done she walked over to Taylor's room to make sure she was up. She opened the door gently and peaked her head inside to find the little girl up and watching cartoons in her bed.

"Good morning little one, what are you doing?" Emily asked as she walked over to Taylor's bed.

The little girl smiled over at Emily and scooted over quickly so her mother could sit down next to her, as she pointed to the screen excitedly, "I've been watching tv."

Emily laughed as the other girl got sucked back into the tv show, mindlessly cuddling into Emily as she got comfortable, "well unfortunately it's time for you to get ready for school." Emily said as she kissed the top of the little girls head, pushing some of her wild hair back from her face.

Taylor looked up at Emily with the same small pout that Emily had thrown at Paige a few minutes earlier to get some coffee and Emily knew she couldn't say no to the little girl in front of her, "but I really like this one mama." Taylor added.

"Fine you can finish watching it downstairs while you eat your breakfast if you get dressed first okay, how's that sound?" Emily asked in a compromise.

Taylor smiled more than happy to comply, "okay! Thanks mama!" She said excitedly as she latched her arms around Emily's neck and hugged her tightly before climbing over her and jumping down off the bed and rushing over to her dresser.

Emily stood up smiling at Taylor's excitement, walking over to help the little girl get dressed. Emily then quickly moved the girl to the bathroom to brush her messy hair down before letting her run off, "Okay baby you're all set." Emily said putting her hand on Taylors back and moving her out of the bathroom, the girl taking off out of her bedroom door as soon as encouraged.

"No running Taylor!" Emily yelled after the little girl while shaking her head softly with a smile as she heard Taylor's loud footsteps slow down slightly. Emily turned off the tv and walked out of the room to go help Taylor with breakfast when Kacey walked out of her room in a rush practically running over Emily, "whoa slow down there Kace."

"Oh sorry mama." Kacey said, "Hey have you seen my boots anywhere?" She asked as she started walking backwards towards the stairs, "You know the grey ones that I wear all the time, I can't find them anywhere."

"I think I saw them laying in the garage." Emily responded.

"The garage. Of course." Kacey said, adding a "Thanks mama," as she turned and rushed down the stairs.

Emily walked downstairs and looked into the living room, seeing not only Taylor but also Parker seated on the couch watching cartoons side by side. "Did you get everything okay Tay?" Emily asked wanting to make sure that the girl was fed properly before school.

Taylor nodded, "yeah Parkey helped me." She said not moving her eyes from the tv screen as she wiped a little bit of milk that had dribbled down her chin off of her face.

Emily nodded, silently hoping that the little girl managed to keep from spilling anything on her shirt before it was time to leave. "What about you Parker, are you ready? We have to leave in about 20 minutes." Emily informed the older girl who was just as interested in the tv as the little girl beside her.

"Almost." She responded mindlessly taking another bite of her cereal.

"You need to stop paying so much attention to the tv and hurry up and eat then so you can finish getting ready please, so you're not late." Emily said turning to move towards the kitchen.

"But this is a good one." Parker stated through a mouthful of food, "plus I need like 5 minutes to get ready, if you're concerned about someone not making it out of the house on time talk to Kacey." Parker teased causing Taylor to chuckle.

"Well get ready first and then you can watch tv until we have to leave okay." She said walking into the kitchen. Emily waited a moment and then peaked back around the corner of the kitchen when she didn't hear any movement, "Parker." She said sternly when she saw the girl hadn't moved yet.

"Sorry, I'm going." Parker said drinking the milk from her cereal and then jumping up from the couch and jogging into the kitchen, placing her empty bowl in the sink.

"Thank you." Emily said as Parker shot out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get ready.

"Are we all accounted for yet?" Paige said as she set Emily's coffee mug on the counter next to where Emily was standing, "you left this behind, thought you might be missing it." Paige teased with a smirk.

Emily sighed heavily, "Let's see, we have one on the couch ready to go. One upstairs finishing getting ready to go. And one's somewhere looking for boots." Emily said as she started putting together lunch for Taylor to take to school.

Paige laughed as she watched Emily rush around the kitchen, "still getting used to the mornings with kids?"

Emily nodded returning to Paige's side to grab her coffee, taking a long sip of it before responding, "It's a lot harder than getting myself out the door on time I must say."

"Definitely." Paige said kissing her wife on the cheek as Kacey came into the kitchen.

"Found them." She said to Emily with the best smile she could muster up while this tired.

Paige looked the girl up and down in question, "Kace kid we have to leave in less than 15 minutes." Paige told the girl who was still in a baggy t-shirt and shorts from the night before.

"I know, it's just so early. I'm going as fast as I can." Kacey said dropping her shoulders.

"You get up at the same time every morning hon." Emily reminded her with a soft smile as she watched Kacey walking over to the stairs dragging her feet.

"Somehow it never gets easier mama. Never. Gets. Easier." She sighed out as Parker rushed down the stairs past her younger sister.

Parker came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs slightly winded, "see ma, five minutes tops." She said proudly before turning her head to look at Kacey. She let out a chuckle as she returned her gaze to her mother, "See I told you that you should've been more worried about her." Parker teased as she pointed to Kacey.

"Shut up Parker." Kacey said grumpily as she started walking back up to her room.

Parker shook her head, "Definitely not a morning person that one." She said earning a laugh from Paige.

"Hey mornings don't come easy to everyone you two are the only people I know who voluntarily get up before the sun." Emily half joked.

"Careful Park, you forgot there are two women in this house who can't do mornings." Paige said mock cringing as she spoke to Parker, earning herself a small smack to the shoulder from Emily causing Parker to laugh again before she walked back over to the couch where Taylor was.

"Why am I already exhausted?" Emily asked leaning her head on Paige's shoulder. Paige chuckled and wrapped her arm around Emily, "It's not even 8 yet." She added in defeat.

Paige kissed the top of her wife's head quickly, "Jumping into getting three kids up and ready without any practice is a little difficult but you're doing great babe. How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I'm getting the hang of it." Emily said as she pulled away from Paige so she could look at her, "And I think I'm starting to figure them out pretty good." She added earning a nod from Paige, "I haven't gotten everything down perfectly yet but I think I'm getting a little bit better."

"You are." Paige reassured her, "I'm glad you're finally starting to feel more comfortable with everything." She said leaning in to kiss her quickly before looking across the kitchen at the clock, "Crunch time." She said before taking a few steps towards the stairs, "Kacey come on!" Paige yelled up the stairs, "We're going to be late."

"Coming." Kacey called back from her room, not yet emerging.

Emily walked into the living room, "Ready to go guys?"

"Yep" She got back in response as Taylor ran her empty bowl to the sink and Parker switched off the tv, moving to grab her bag from the entry way.

"Alright I will see you after school." Emily said to Parker, kissing her on the head before the older girl walked past her and to Paige's car, leaning against it as she waited for her mom and sister, "Tay you're with me." She said as she grabbed her keys and handed Taylor her bag once she was done saying goodbye to Paige and she exited the house heading to Emily's car.

"Love you Em." Paige said as she kissed her wife quickly.

"Love you too, see you when you get home." She said walking past Paige who waited by the open front door for the last one of the clan to come down.

Just as she was about to call out for the girl again Kacey appeared, jogging down the stairs and past Paige, with her bag thrown over her shoulder, "Sorry, sorry." She said rushing over to the car.

Paige shut the door behind her, locking it quickly before making her way to the car where her two older girls were waiting. She unlocked the car and hopped in, "How we manage to make it out on time, I will never know." Paige said dramatically causing Parker and Kacey to laugh in agreement as they headed off to school.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Little bit of a filler chapter so it's a little shorter than usual and not much Paily until the end but I hope you guys like it anyways. As always, let me know what you think, whether you hate it or like it it's always nice to know.**

 **[Parker's POV]**

I was about to walk into my classroom when I spotted McKenna in the hallway trying to grab one of the students attention unsuccessfully. I couldn't help but laugh as she groaned in frustration and stopped to look back down at a piece of paper in her hands. I looked inside the classroom that was just starting to fill and decided I had a little bit of time before class started. I walked away from the classroom and made my way over to McKenna.

"Lost?" I asked coming up behind the girl, slightly startling her, "Sorry." I said with a slight chuckle when the other girl jumped.

"Ugh, so lost. Do you have any clue where this is, some guy told me it was over here but I can't find it." She said seeming frustrated and a little panicked as she handed me her schedule and looked around anxiously.

I looked down at the schedule and studied it for a moment as a small smile crept on my face, "Well the guy who told you it was over here was messing with you." I informed the girl in front of me whose face fell immediately, "you're not even on the right side of the school newbie." I teased laughing at the surprise on McKenna's face.

"Great, why would he do that? Now I'm going to be late on my first day." She huffed out in disbelief as she let her arms fall against her side in frustration.

"Hmm so you're a good girl then." I observed out loud.

McKenna shrugged with a shy nod, "Nothing wrong with wanting to be on time."

I laughed a little pulling my phone out of my pocket looking down at the time, "Alright well we got a few minutes. I think we can make it, the campus isn't all that big." I said walking away from her in the direction of her class, "You coming?" I asked over my shoulder noticing the girl hadn't moved from her spot.

McKenna's feet eventually moved and she hurried down the hall to catch up, "Aren't you going to be late though?"

I shrugged, "Probably but it's not my first day and coming in a few minutes late isn't going to be a big deal, it's not like it hasn't happened before." The other girl simply nodded and walked beside me in silence as we made our way across campus. We had to jog about half of the way but we made it to the door before the bell rang.

"Here we are." I said gesturing to the door slightly winded, "AP Biology in all its glory."

McKenna let out a small laugh, "Thank you Parker." She said sincerely.

"No problem." I said as I reached out for the girl's phone, pulling it out of her hand easily, "Here." I said quickly putting my number in the phone before handing it back, "you know just in case you get lost again." I said shrugging casually.

McKenna nodded flashing me a quick smile as she turned and I watched her disappear into the classroom. I sighed as the bell rang, mumbling a few curse words under my breath as I turned to take off in the direction of my class but was quickly stopped as I noticed Brooke walking towards me.

"Hey." I said as she stopped in front of me.

"Hey." She responded hesitantly, shifting her gaze over to the door I was just at before returning it to me, "Who's your knew friend, I haven't seen her around here before?"

"Oh no one, she's new here so I was just helping her find her class. She's on the swim team." I explained quickly as Brooke nodded her head slowly, not responding much more. "Okay well I better get to class then, my mom's going to kill me if she finds out I somehow managed to be super late." I said looking around us quickly to make sure no one was lingering in the halls before placing a quick kiss on her cheek as I walked past her.

I ran to the end of the hallway before stopping and turning back, "Oh and by the way," I called back at her, gaining her attention as she turned her head back to look at me, "you're killing it in those shorts." I said with a smirk as I threw a wink in the girl's direction who just shook her head as she tried her best not to smile.

"Go to class Parker." She said turning back around. I laughed as I watched her turn the corner before looking down at my phone, cursing again as I realized how late I was going to be as I took off in a sprint towards my class.

 **[No one's POV]**

Parker managed to get to class without being extremely late and made it through the rest of the day without any issues. As always she made her way over to the locker room at the end of the day and walked over to her mother's office. Parker knocked on the door lightly before cracking it open, "Hey." She said walking into the small room when she saw her mom at the computer.

"Hey Park." She said throwing the young girl a quick smile before returning her attention back to the computer screen.

"So did you hear from the clinic?" Parker asked.

Paige turned in her chair and nodded her head, "They called this morning and you're good to go." She informed the girl who smiled excitedly.

"I can swim today?" She asked excitedly to make sure they were on the same page.

Paige nodded, "Yes, but I'm going to be keeping an eye on you okay. And if I think anything seems weird or if I feel you're pushing yourself to hard I'm going to step in." Paige stated, receiving a nod from Parker who was clearly just happy to get back in the pool.

"You got it." Parker reassured her, "Don't even worry about me, I'm back on track and I promise I'm not going to let you down this time."

"You never let me down kid." Paige told her honestly, "I just want to make sure you're okay and that you don't get mixed up in anything you shouldn't be involved in."

Parker nodded as she walked over to Paige, leaning down to hug her, "Thanks mom."

"Love you kiddo." Paige said as she returned the hug.

"Love you too." Parker responded as she pulled away.

"Oh and I have a meeting I have to go to after practice so your mom's going to pick you and Kace up okay?" Paige informed the girl, who nodded in response.

"Got it." Parker said as she started to walk towards the door, "I'm going to go get ready for practice."

"Practice doesn't start for another hour and a half kid." Paige called out.

"I know but I have lost time to make up for mom remember?" Parker called back as she left the room.

Paige shook her head but couldn't stop the small smile that formed on her face at how much the girl managed to work when it came to swimming. Paige sat in her office until practice came, trying to get as much done as possible knowing it was going to be a long night with the meeting she had to go to tonight.

Practiced had gone smoothly and they were almost finished up with practice when McKenna entered the pool area and walked over to stand in front of the bleachers as some of the team lined up for the last couple of laps of practice.

Parker climbed up onto the starting post as a few of the other girls lined up on the ones around her. She pulled her goggles down over her eyes before she got into position, when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head slightly from her crouched position and let her eyes linger on the new girl as she slipped out of her warm ups and pulled her hair up into her cap. Parker let her eyes wander down the other swimmers body, getting a good look at it for the first time. She slightly straightened out of her stance unconsciously as she admired the other girl's body when a whistle followed by a few splashes brought her attention back to the pool.

Parker's eyes slightly widened as she focused back on the pool. She quickly dove into the pool in a panic knowing that her delayed start wouldn't go unnoticed as she swam the length of the pool as fast as she could. Parker reached the wall and pulled herself out of the water, Kacey already standing on the edge having finished well before her due to the late start.

"Distracted?" Kacey asked with a smirk.

Parker rolled her eyes and turned away from her sister not even acknowledging her as she walked away from Kacey frustrated at herself for letting some new girl distract her. She shook her head trying to rid the image of the other girl slipping out of her warm ups from her mind, she knew she couldn't let herself become distracted at swim practice for any reason, she needed to stay focused.

However, despite her better judgement Parker walked over to McKenna who was stretching on the side of the pool as some of the other girls made their way to the locker room.

"What are you doing?" Parker asked softly not wanting to startle the girl who wasn't paying attention. Parker grabbed her towel that was sitting on the bleachers and wiped off her face before wrapping it around her shoulders as she waited for an answer.

McKenna looked up from the ground, "Stretching?" She said unsure of what she was supposed to say to the other girl.

"Well yeah I can see that newbie." Parker said not being able to keep a smile from her face, "I meant why are you stretching now. I mean practice is over." She stated gesturing around the aquatic center that was now pretty close to empty.

"They made me go over some paperwork and stuff for the team with my dad so I missed practice but coach said I could stay after if I wanted to and swim a few laps until they lock the doors." She answered, pushing herself up off the floor.

Parker nodded, "so you'll be at practice tomorrow?"

"Yep." McKenna said as she walked over to the starting posts.

Parker followed a step behind her, "Good. Rumor is you're better than you let on and I like a little competition." Parker stated playfully.

McKenna let out a small laugh as she stepped up on the post and pulled her goggles down over her eyes as she looked down at Parker, "You'll just have to wait and see how good I really am tomorrow then."

"Looking forward to it." Parker said.

McKenna responded with a simple nod, throwing Parker one last smile before turning and lining up on the post, diving into the pool with ease.

Parker smiled to herself as she watched the girl swim to the far end of the pool, lost in thought.

"Hey lover girl, come on mom's waiting for us." Kacey yelled over to Parker from the locker room door, already dressed in her clothes clearly waiting for her older sister.

Parker turned around and let the smile fall from her face, glaring at Kacey as she walked over to her, "seriously, lover girl?" Parker asked unimpressed rolling her eyes at her sisters attempt to annoy her.

"Just calling it how I see it." She responded with a shrug earning a playful shove from the older brunette.

"Get a life." Parker said with a laugh as she walked past Kacey and into the locker room, changing quickly before walking over to meet Kacey. "Ready?" Parker asked as she returned to Kacey's side, earning a quick nod as they walked out to the parking lot and climbed into the car where Emily was waiting for them.

Emily greeted the girls as they settled into the car before driving off. She had her mother drop off Taylor at soccer practice earlier in the day and was headed over there with the other two girls to pick the youngest girl up. Emily had gotten used to the routine of picking up and dropping off kids where they needed to be and felt a lot more confident in being in charge of them without Paige being around but it still somehow managed to make her nervous.

When they pulled up to the soccer field Taylor's practice was still going on so they got out of the car and joined some of the other parents who were sitting and watching the kids play.

They had been watching for a while when Taylor got shoved down again by a boy who seemed to have been picking on her all practice. Emily bit at her lip nervously as Taylor took a little longer to get up off of the ground this time, a frown on the little girls face. She couldn't help but want to run over to her little girl and make sure she was okay but she wasn't sure if that was a thing she was supposed to do and Parker beat her to the punch anyway.

"I'll be right back." Parker said as she started to jog over to the other side of the field where Taylor was a little closer to. Kacey following behind Parker leaving Emily by herself.

Emily watched as Parker signaled for Taylor to come over to her and Kacey as she crouched down on the side of the field. Taylor ran across the field and over to Parker immediately and stopped in front of her. She was watching her girls as Parker talked to the youngest of them. She obviously couldn't tell what they were saying but Emily figured that the two older girls were just making sure Taylor was okay after being knocked down a few times.

Emily was still watching her three girls when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to look behind her, finding a blonde woman standing fairly close to her, "Hi Emily." The woman said timidly with a small smile and an awkward wave.

Emily looked around her in confusion not sure who this woman was, "Hello." Emily responded politely as she stood there awkwardly waiting for the other woman to continue. Emily figured that this woman was probably another parent to one of the kids on the soccer team but Emily had been to just about every practice and game that Taylor had since the accident and she was pretty sure she had never recalled seeing the blonde around.

"You have no idea who I am do you?" The woman finally asked with a small laugh which quickly faded out as a frown took over her face.

"I'm sorry, I don't." Emily admitted apologetically.

The other girl shooed her off like it was no big deal, "that's okay. I haven't heard an update on the whole head injury thing or anything, "She stated uncomfortably as she gestured to Emily's head with her hands, "so I wasn't sure if you were getting better or not. We work together, I'm-"

"Rachel!"

I turned my head away from the blonde to find Parker jogging over to Rachel and instantly jumping on her with a laugh, Kacey trailing a little ways behind her timidly.

"Hey Parker." Rachel said laughing along with her as Parker let go of the woman and stood right next to her.

"Kacey." Rachel said in acknowledgement with a small smile as Kacey walked up and joined the group.

"What are you doing here?" Kacey asked suspiciously, looking between her mother and the other woman.

"I was in town to do some scouting at the swim tournament going on just down the street," Rachel explained shoving her hands in her pockets, "I saw your mom's car parked on the street and thought I'd stop by to see how she was doing."

"She's doing just fine." Kacey stated quickly causing Parker to look at her little sister oddly.

"Kacey don't be rude." Emily said noticing the snappy tone in her daughter's voice and her narrowed eyes directed firmly at Rachel.

"It's fine Emily." Rachel stated uncomfortably but doing her best to reassure Emily, "I better head over to the pool before I'm late." She said throwing her thumb in the direction of her car, "it was nice to see you again Emily, I'm glad you're doing okay." The woman said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you Rachel." Emily said politely as she returned a smile.

"See you later." Parker said giving Rachel a quick hug before moving back to her previous position on the side of the field as she returned her attention to Taylor who was back running on the field.

"Bye." Rachel said one last time over her shoulder as she walked back over to her car and got in driving off.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked Kacey as she watched the girl's eyes follow Rachel's car until it was out of sight. Kacey seemed to snap out of it as she turned her head back to look at Emily. She nodded her head with a small smile, "Yeah I'm fine."

Emily could tell it was a forced smile and that something was wrong with the girl but Parker interrupted them before she had a chance to ask the younger girl what was bothering her, "Hey guys come check this out." Parker said excitedly, not taking her eyes off the field as she waved them over.

Emily shook her head at her oldest daughter's excitement as she threw an arm across Kacey's shoulders and pulled her into her as they took a few steps to stand by Parker as they refocused on the kids running around the field and watched. Emily found her daughter in the group of kids on the field just in time to see Taylor kick a little boy in the ankle as he ran by her causing him to trip and take quite the fall.

"There you go Tay!" Parker called out as she sprung out of her crouch and cheered at her little sister. Emily watched on in disbelief as the little girl on the field turned towards Parker and gave her a thumbs up accompanied with a large smile before returning her attention back to practice.

Emily reached over and lightly smacked Parker, who smiled on proudly, in the chest, "Did you tell her to do that?" Emily asked disapprovingly.

Parker grabbed at her chest in mock pain, rubbing the spot where Emily had smacked her, "Did I tell her directly to kick a child in the lower part of his leg so he would trip and eat dirt?" Parker asked mocking offense while she looked up in pretend thought, "Technically no."

Emily shook her head as Kacey laughed at her sister's antics. "Well technically you're already in trouble so let's not add to that by technically teaching your little sister how to cause trouble." Emily said giving the girl a stern look.

Parker nodded in understanding putting her hands up in surrender, "Right sorry, won't happen again." She promised before turning back to the field cringing slightly when she saw Taylor kick the boy again sending him back to the ground causing Emily to shake her head again as she let out a sigh hoping that this wouldn't become a habit with the little girl.

The rest of practice finished pretty quickly and Taylor ran over to join her family before they started walking over to the car. "See Tay I told you it would work, you were awesome squirt." Parker said pleased as she threw her arm over the little girls shoulder and pulled her into her.

Taylor's lips stretched across her face in a wide grin as she looked up at her older sister, leaning into her before Emily cut in, "Parker, didn't we just talk about this?" Emily asked a little disappointed as she gave the girl a serious look, "could we maybe not teach her to fight people please."

"Did you see that kid shoving her down?" Parker asked not seeing the problem as they all climbed into the car, "Do they let that snotty nosed boy do that to her all the time cause it's not cool. I think she did awesome standing up for herself."

"No she's usually fine. And yes she stood up for herself but she doesn't need to do that by doing the same thing back to him. There are other ways to solve problems honey." Emily said.

Parker nodded, "Fine, I'm sorry. No more kicking people alright Tay." She said looking down at the girl next to her.

Taylor nodded but laughed when Kacey joined in, "It was pretty awesome though, I think that little boy was scared of you by the end of practice munchkin." Kacey stated with a laugh as she nudged Taylor lightly in the side.

Emily couldn't help but let a smile creep onto her face as she looked in the rearview mirror and saw the three girls squished together in the back seat laughing together as they drove home, things were definitely seeming to get better for them.

 **[Later that night]**

All three girls were in bed and Emily was sitting on the couch trying to find something to watch while she waited for Paige to get home. She figured it would be a few more hours before her wife returned home but she wasn't very tired and she didn't think she'd be able to sleep very well with Paige being out anyways.

Emily had been sitting there for a while when she heard a door from upstairs open and close quietly. She leaned her head back and craned her neck slightly to see who was coming down the stairs, "Hey everything okay?" Emily asked as her eyes followed Kacey as she walked around the couch towards Emily.

"Couldn't sleep." Kacey stated quietly as she stopped at the end of the couch, glancing over at the tv and then back to her mom.

Emily shifted into a sitting position, gesturing for the girl to come sit with her. Kacey took a moment to think about it before walking over and sitting down next to Emily. The young girl gently threw her legs over Emily's lap as she leaned her head on her mother's chest, cuddling up to her with a soft sigh.

Emily instinctively wrapped an arm around Kacey, bringing her other arm up to let her hand rest on Kacey's legs, "Are you sure everything's okay?"

The girl simply shrugged not sure if she wanted to talk to Emily about what had been bugging her right now.

Emily sighed not sure how to get the girl to open up to her. She decided to drop it, at least for right now, figuring that she would pry more later if the girl didn't shake whatever was upsetting her in the morning. She was running her hand soothingly across the girl's leg when a small scar caught her eye and she moved her finger to run across it lightly, "How'd you get it?" She asked looking over at the girl.

Kacey moved her head slightly to look over at the scar that ran down the side of her knee, "Oh that, nothing major just a little skateboarding incident." She said with a small chuckle, "busted my knee open pretty bad though, skateboarding definitely was not my thing."

Emily nodded letting a small smile graze her lips, "Do you have any more?"

"Scars?" Kacey asked before shrugging, "Just little ones, I've never had any massive injuries. I was always pretty careful, still am." She answered as she leaned her head back into Emily's chest, "Parker was always the more reckless one."

"Still is." Emily interrupted with a small laugh.

Kacey laughed along with her, "Yeah still is. Mom always tells us that you would always freak out when one of us got hurt. Especially when we were little." She added, a small smile playing on her lips.

Emily never really pictured herself to become the parent that overreacted but for some reason she could see that now, "Have I at least gotten better now that you're grown up?" She asked enjoying the conversation with Kacey.

Kacey thought about it for a moment before shaking her head with a small smile creeping back onto her lips, "Not really, no." She admitted letting out the laugh she was holding in when Emily rolled her eyes. "It's okay, it's kind of nice to know someone will come running if you fall down and get hurt." She stated with a shrug, "Mom always said you did it because you just cared more than anyone else."

"As much as I hate to ever admit it," Emily said pausing for a moment, "your mom is probably right about that one." She said before placing a light kiss on the top of the girls head.

Kacey chuckled lightly, letting her smile linger on her face as she nodded in agreement.

After that the conversation stopped and they had been sitting in a comfortable silence for a while now, the lack of movement as well as talking had made Emily believe that the girl had finally fallen asleep but Kacey unexpectedly broke the silence surprising Emily, "Hey mama?" she asked quietly.

Emily ran her fingers through the young girl's hair softly as she glanced down at her, "yeah?" She answered.

"You love mom right?"

"Of course I do." Emily answered instantly, slightly taken back by the question, "What would make you think I don't?"

Kacey slightly shifted herself in Emily's arms getting comfortable as she closed her eyes again and buried her head deeper into Emily, "I don't know." She said honestly as she sighed, "I guess I just wanted to hear you say that you did, that's all." She mumbled into her mother.

Emily looked down at the girl curiously, "Well I do." She said as she continued to brush Kacey's hair away from her face soothingly, "I love her more than anything. I love all of you more than anything okay?" She stated reassuringly.

Kacey slightly nodded her head as she kept her eyes sealed shut, not saying another word about it. Emily continued to run her hands through Kacey's hair until the girl in her arms breath evened out and her body became heavy against Emily signaling she had drifted off to sleep. Emily didn't understand why Kacey would feel the need to ask if she loved Paige and she couldn't help but wonder if that had been what was bugging the younger girl. Emily tried to think back to figure out if she had done anything recently to indicate that she hadn't loved Paige, which lead her to wonder if this had been bugging the girl for longer than she believed.

She sat there and thought about the possibility that she had done something before the accident that had worried Kacey about the love between her and Paige. Maybe they hadn't been getting along before. Maybe Paige and hers marriage had been in trouble. It was all a possibility but there was no way for her to confirm that there had been something wrong and honestly she didn't feel like she wanted to know about it if there was. She was happy with Paige and she couldn't imagine things being bad enough between her and Paige for her daughter to feel the need to ask if she loved her wife. Emily continued to let these thoughts run through her mind as she waited for Paige until her eyes couldn't fight the sleep taking over her anymore, drifting off on the couch not too long after Kacey.

 **[A couple hours later]**

Paige walked into the house shutting the door quietly behind her, walking into the kitchen and dropping her bag on the counter before shrugging off her jacket and hanging it over the back of one of the chairs at the kitchen table. She could hear the tv in the living room and walked in to find Emily and Kacey both passed out on the couch.

Paige, as tired as she was, couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of the two and shook her head in disbelief at how big Kacey looked now in Emily's arms. She remembered walking in on the same scene a million times but Kacey used to fit in Emily's arms much easier than she appeared to be now. The girl was just as big as Emily at this point and Paige found it hard to believe that the young girl was practically grown up now, they all were. Even Taylor who was still little was growing up much faster than her or Emily probably wanted her to. Paige shook the thought from her head not really wanting to think about their girls growing up and leaving just yet.

Paige walked around the couch over to the girls and slipped her arms under a sleeping Kacey lifting her gently, doing her best not to wake up either of the two on the couch. She walked upstairs with the young girl in her arms and gently set her in her bed before making her way back down stairs to get Emily.

"Em." She said quietly, not wanting to startle her wife. When Emily didn't move she reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Emily's ear letting her hand run down her neck and down to her shoulder. Paige shook Emily gently and the woman's eyes fluttered open slowly.

Emily blinked her eyes a few times before coming to things. She shifted on the couch and quickly noticed that her daughter wasn't with her anymore, "Where's Kace?" She asked slightly worried.

"I already took her up to bed." Paige said as she leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Emily's temple, "Which is where we should probably get you."

Emily let out a small yawn as she looked up at Paige who was now standing up straight in front of her, "What so Kacey gets taken to bed but I don't?" Emily asked teasingly with a small pout.

Paige laughed, "Aren't you a little old for that honey?"

"Never too old to get taken to bed by your hot wife." Emily said tiredly with a wink.

Paige let out a small laugh, "Fine come on." She said as she leaned down and slipped one of her arms behind Emily's knees as Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's neck. Paige lifted Emily up off the couch and fake grunted as she pretended to struggle more than she really was, "Gosh Em I think you put on some weight." Paige joked.

Emily's jaw dropped before she let out a laugh and smacked Paige's chest, "Jerk." She mumbled into Paige's neck causing her to laugh as she walked them to their bedroom. When they got there Paige dropped Emily down on the bed and walked over to the closet.

Emily sat up slightly, resting her body on her forearms. She wanted to ask Paige about their marriage before the accident but she didn't really know if now was the right time. She knew that Paige must be tired and she definitely was too, so instead she just decided to ask Paige about it later, instead focusing on something else.

"How did the meeting go?" Emily asked as she scooted towards the head of the bed and pulled the sheets back as she laid down settling into the bed.

"It went pretty well." Paige said in response as she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed with her back to Emily slipping her shoes off, "The coach there is retiring at the end of the season." Paige told her wife as she looked over her shoulder at Emily, "They offered me the head coaching spot for next year."

A smile appeared on Emily's face, "That's great." She exclaimed happily, earning a nod from Paige who didn't seem all that thrilled about the new job opening, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you're right it's great." Paige said with a small smile as she got up off the bed and grabbed some clothes from the closet before walking into the bathroom.

Emily sighed as she sat up again, "Come on Paige, talk to me."

"I feel like I should take it." Paige said honestly as she reentered the bedroom.

"Maybe, but do you want to take it?" Emily asked as she climbed out of bed and walked over to Paige, "Because it doesn't really seem like you do."

Paige shrugged, "I mean I like working at the high school and I don't really want to leave before Kacey graduates." Paige admitted rubbing the bac of her neck as she thought about the situation, "But the spot at the college will definitely pay better and we could always use the extra money, I mean we have three daughters we're going to have to put through college and it's not like we're short on money or anything but it takes a lot."

"Paige." Emily said interrupting the woman in front of her. Paige stopped and looked at her waiting for her to continue, "Don't worry about that stuff okay, you're current job pays fine. We'll be fine if you don't take the job babe, relax." Emily said as she ran her hands up and down Paige's arms trying to calm her down.

Paige took a deep breath and nodded her head, "I don't know, it's just a lot to think about you know." Paige said sighing again, "I've always wanted to coach at a higher level swim program and this may be my only chance." She stated warily, "What if I pass it up and regret it in a year or two?"

Emily nodded, "It's a lot to think about."

"And then there's the issue of both of us being gone more often." Paige said, "The school you work out is under an hour away so you can drive but this college is just under three hours away Em, we'd probably have to move closer and the kids aren't going to like that. Plus when you are working and traveling during the season we already have to spend more time apart than either of us would like, with both of us traveling so much for work it's going to be hard to manage our time together let alone family time together with the kids, I just don't think it's in our best interest, even if I did want the job."

Emily's interest increased when she heard Paige comment on their struggle of being able to find time to spend together. This only increased her fear that maybe their marriage wasn't as good as she was lead to believe it was before the accident. But again Emily decided that Paige was already worked up enough and she just wanted her wife to calm down a little so she decided she could wait until tomorrow to ask questions.

"Okay just relax Paige." Emily said when Paige's facial expressions turned panicked and her breathing quickened, "Why are you getting so worked up about it babe? I'm sure they aren't expecting an answer right away, why don't you just take a few days to really think it over."

Paige nodded, "I'm sorry you're right I don't know why I'm even freaking out, it's just overwhelming for me."

"That's okay." Emily said, "Why don't you go shower and then we can go to bed and you can sleep on it?"

Paige simply answered with a nod, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Emily's lip before she turned and walked off into the bathroom. Emily sighed and crawled back into bed, grabbing her phone off the bedside table figuring it'd give her something to do while she waited for Paige. Emily pressed the button on the side of the phone, lighting up the screen noticing that she had a missed call.

She had had her phone upstairs while she was down in the living room with Kacey and noticed that the call had already been a few hours old. She clicked on the notification and Rachel's name appeared on the screen. Emily's eyes narrowed at the screen in confusion, why would Rachel be calling her? She hadn't even known this woman existed until late this afternoon and now she was receiving late night calls from her.

This only made Emily's mind wander to the dangerous places that she didn't want to go. Between Kacey acting strange and asking whether or not she loved Paige, not to mention Paige also hinting at the fact that they weren't spending much time together before the accident she was starting to think the worst.

Emily stared down at the unfamiliar name on the screen of the phone and tried to come up with anything she could about the woman that she had seen earlier that day but she seemed to be failing at that no matter how hard she tried. She sighed in frustration and set the phone back down on the nightstand, throwing herself back down on the bed. She almost felt like the answer she was looking for was on the tip of her tongue as she closed her eyes and imagined the woman's face in her head but she couldn't quite figure it out.

The woman's face continued to become more and more familiar as she thought about it. Emily recalled that the other woman had said they worked together so she wasn't very surprised that Rachel's face seemed familiar to her. Emily just figured that since they worked together they had probably been pretty good friends that saw each other almost every day so it made sense that she was familiar but she still couldn't place the strange feeling in her gut she had over the woman.

Emily wasn't sure how long she had sat there picturing the woman's face in attempt to remember anything about her before she heard the bathroom door swing open. Her eyes snapped open just in time to see Paige walk out, regaining Emily's full attention as all thoughts of the other woman slipped away momentarily.

"Feeling better?" Emily asked, shifting in the bed slightly to get a better look at Paige.

Paige gave a slight nod but Emily could tell that she was still over thinking things as she walked over and shut off the light in the room before walking back to the bed and slipping in next to Emily. Emily scooted over and curled up into Paige's side immediately wanting to feel close to her after all of the stuff she's been forced to think about tonight. Paige curled one of her arms around Emily, tilting her head to place a quick kiss on the side of her wife's head before closing her eyes, happy that the day was finally over.

They sat there in complete silence as they held each other both unaware of the others mind racing as they tried to fall asleep. Sleep definitely didn't come easy for either of them that night but eventually they both drifted off to sleep at some point in the night. However, within the next few hours Emily's eyes flew open wide as she startled from her sleep.

She slowed her breathing down as she shifted her gaze to the woman sleeping beside her. Paige's mouth hung slightly open as she breathed evenly, Emily sighed happy that she didn't wake the other woman when she jolted awake. Emily wiggled out of Paige's grip gently to not wake her as she sat up in the bed and rubbed at her face. She wasn't completely sure but she felt like her dream had been more of a flashback than anything. Of course she could have simply had a dream about the other woman she had met that day due to all of the thinking she had been doing of her that night but this felt real to Emily. It felt like a memory. She knew who the woman was, she was sure of it now and it was all too much for her. She didn't know much about what to do at this point but she did know that she needed to talk to someone, whether it was Kacey or Rachel herself, she needed to know what was going on.

Emily sighed deeply as she hung her head in disbelief, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it right now in the middle of the night so she settled back down into her spot next to Paige, settling herself back into her wife's arms. Emily scooted as close as she possibly could to Paige and wrapped her arms around the other woman's waist as she buried her head into her chest. Emily closed her eyes tightly trying her best to ignore everything she has dealt with tonight as she fell back into sleep.

When the morning came both women were exhausted from the lack of sleep. They both slipped out of bed when the alarm went off for the second time although neither of them wanted to. They both knew they had a long day ahead of them, both woman thinking it to be that way for different reasons.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Wow, okay that took me ages and I'm so, so sorry! I had every intent to get this chapter up fast but clearly that didn't happen. I got swamped with school work due to the fact that I'm quite the procrastinator and with the quarter ending I've been doing all the last minute presentations, papers, and cramming for finals that I've put off throughout the quarter. And as much as I love writing this story, it is very hard to motivate yourself to sit down and write when you've been doing so much school work and all you want to do is be lazy. ALSO, I was way too invested in Clexa for my own good (still am) and we all know what happened there so that put me a little behind on the writing to because I've been all up in that mess the last two weeks. So enough of my excuses haha thank you all for being so patient and I really hope it was worth the wait!**

 **Also quick shout out to Maetro (whose stories I'm sure you are all very familiar with because they're amazing!) because I told her I was going to post this literally about a month ago (yikes), so I am very very sorry for being a little bit of a liar there haha hope you like the chapter.**

 **Okay that's all for my long A/N, sorry for the little rant. Enjoy the new chapter and as always let me know what you guys think, if you are still with me here haha I always love to hear what everyone likes/dislikes so don't be afraid to let me know :)**

Emily waited in the kitchen for Kacey to come down for breakfast, wanting to talk to her before the younger girl took off to school with Paige, but as late as Kacey usually ran in the morning Emily didn't expect to get a chance to catch her. Emily's attention was directed towards her wife when she walked into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow as she set her now empty coffee cup in the sink, finding it odd that Emily was just standing in the kitchen.

Emily forced a small smile onto her lips, "Oh umm I'm just waiting for Kacey." Emily stated as she moved her gaze to her feet. Even though she wasn't sure what was going on with Rachel, Emily couldn't help the twist of guilt that crept into her stomach whenever she was in the same room as Paige this morning.

Paige nodded, "Aren't we always waiting for Kacey?" She joked with a smile as she placed a kiss on Emily's cheek before she walked out of the kitchen leaving Emily to herself again.

Emily turned around, placing her hands against the counter as she hunched over and hung her head sighing.

"Whoa rough morning already?" Parker asked teasingly as she came up behind Emily, slightly startling her before she turned around to face the young brunette.

"Yeah something like that." Emily answered with a tight lipped smile, running her fingers through her hair, "Are you ready to go?" She asked to avoid Parker asking her what was wrong.

Parker looked at Emily warily for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I just have to go grab my swim bag."

"Go grab it, I think your mom is already waiting for you guys." Emily told her as she gestured for the girl to go upstairs. Parker listened and instantly walked out of the kitchen, passing Kacey on her way up.

"Morning." Kacey said as she entered the kitchen and walked over to the cupboard and started digging through it for something to eat.

"Kacey I really need to talk to you." Emily stated quickly as she pulled the girls arm to direct Kacey's attention to herself.

Kacey turned slightly surprised at the look of panic on Emily's face, "I'm kind of already running late, can it wait until later?" She asked absentmindedly as she turned back to the cabinet, settling on a granola bar.

"It's about Rachel." Emily whispered harshly at the girl who looked back with a raised eyebrow, now fully interested in what Emily had to say, "I need you to tell me about her."

Kacey's eyebrows pulled together in even more confusion, "Why do you want to know anything about her?" She asked a little harshly.

"I think I might have remembered something." Emily admitted, pausing to see how Kacey would react. Kacey's eyes darted around the room, avoiding Emily's gaze.

"I don't know what to tell you," Kacey shot back quickly not really sure what Emily had remembered, "I don't know what you want me to say."

Emily sighed impatiently, "Kacey, please. I think you know something that you're not telling me."

Kacey nodded her head, giving in, "What do you think you remembered?" She asked hesitantly, her voice barely loud enough for Emily to hear.

"Was there something going on between Rachel and I? Something that wasn't supposed to be going on?" Emily had to force the question out of her mouth, honestly not even wanting to hear Kacey's answer.

Kacey swallowed hard as she looked away from Emily again. She waited a moment before shrugging, moving her eyes back to Emily's, "Maybe." Kacey answered as she took a deep breath trying to hold back the water that was gathering in her eyes, "I don't know, you got in the accident before I got the chance to ask you."

"Ask me what? I mean what made you think something was going on in the first place." Emily asked in a panic, "Did you see something? Were you just suspicious? I need to know Kacey, it's important."

Kacey nodded in understnding, "I-"

"Kacey! Parker!" Paige's voice boomed through the house, startling both Emily and Kacey, "Come on we have to go!"

"Look I'll tell you when I get home okay, I can't do this right now." Kacey said rushing out of the kitchen before Emily had a chance to pull her back. Emily sighed knowing that she probably shouldn't have riled Kacey up right before she went to school.

Emily rubbed her face and shook her head trying to pull herself together before grabbing the keys off of the counter and walking to the living room to find Taylor, "Ready Tay?" She asked causing the little girl to jump up off the couch and run over to grab her bag from beside the door. "Ready," Taylor responded and they quickly made their way out the front door, leaving the house empty.

Paige pulled into a parking spot and Kacey and Parker jumped out of the car instantly, saying a quick bye to Paige before walking into the school. The two girls walked together not saying anything but as soon as they were out of Paige's sight Parker grabbed Kacey's upper arm, turning her quickly and shoving her back against the hallway wall.

Kacey's eyes widened in surprise as she grimaced slightly from the impact of the wall, "Ow, what the hell Parker?"

"What's going on Kacey?" Parker asked harshly.

"I don't know what you're talking about Parker." Kacey spat back honestly, trying to wiggle out of Parker's grip.

Parker pushed Kacey into the wall a little harder, narrowing her eyes at the younger girl in frustration, "I heard you and mama in the kitchen." She informed the younger girl, "Tell me what you know." Parker demanded.

Kacey stopped struggling in Parkers grip and let out a small sigh, she didn't know what to say so she just stared at Parker. Parker loosened her grip and let go of her sister's arm, taking a step back, letting Kacey step away from the wall, "Was she cheating on mom?" Parker asked unemotionally.

Kacey, again not sure what to say, didn't answer. She just shrugged as she let the tears she had been holding in all morning fall from her eyes. Parker let out a sigh, not meaning to upset Kacey. She pulled her sister into a tight hug and let her cry softly into her shoulder. They stood like that for a moment, catching odd glances from a few kids still walking through the halls, who Parker glared at and told to mind their own business. When the bell rang Parker kissed the side of Kacey's head before pulling out of the hug and lightly wiped her sister's face with her sweatshirt sleeve.

"You better get to class." Parker said earning a nod from Kacey.

"Parker, I don't know if she was cheating. She might not have been." Kacey stated as confidently as she could, knowing Parker would be upset.

"Then answer mama's question." Parker insisted, "What made you think she could be?"

Kacey sighed heavily, "I saw them kissing." She finally admitted.

Parker shook her head in disbelief as a bitter laugh escaped her lips, "isn't that enough to know what was going on?"

Kacey shook her head, "No, it's not. We don't know the whole story."

"And I don't want to." Parker admitted shakily.

"Get to class girls." A staff member shouted from the other side of the hall, turning both of their attention away from each other.

"I'll see you later okay." Parker said squeezing the girl's shoulder and offering the best smile she could muster up at the moment before she turned and walked off towards her class.

Kacey nodded although Parker was already gone. She had faith in Emily, she would never cheat on Paige. Or at least Kacey didn't think she would. She had to admit though, seeing Emily kiss someone that wasn't Paige was pretty damning evidence but she still couldn't find herself to believe it. Kacey just sighed and slowly made her way to her class even though she was in no mood to sit through it right now.

Emily had dropped Taylor off at school a couple of hours ago and she was now sitting on the couch twisting her phone around in her hand. She couldn't stop thinking about this Rachel woman and needed to know what was going on. She was originally going to just wait for Kacey to get home to see what she had to say but she couldn't wait anymore so she stopped twirling her phone around and scrolled through her contacts, stopping on Rachel's name. She spent several moments anxiously staring at the contact information, trying to build up the courage to call the other woman. Eventually her finger tapped against the screen of her phone and she forced the phone to her ear as it rang.

Emily felt like the phone had rang forever, when in reality Rachel picked up rather fast, "Hello." Emily knew she had to say something back but she was frozen, "Emily?"

Emily realized she wasn't breathing and let out a sharp breathe before she found herself talking back, "Umm hi Rachel." She said hesitantly, "I…I was wondering if we could meet up?"

Rachel didn't respond immediately and Emily could hear the other woman shuffling things around on the other end of the phone. "Rachel?" Emily asked when the line was silent for a while.

"Umm yeah, okay that's fine, but I can't really leave the university, we have practice in a couple of hours." Rachel explained.

"That's fine I can come to you." Emily answered immediately figuring meeting up with the other woman would be best if it was away from the house. Emily felt that maybe it was wrong to be sneaking around but to be honest she didn't want anyone to know that she was going to see Rachel, especially Paige.

"Oh." Rachel answered kind of surprised, "Okay that works for me then. Come by whenever, I'll either be in the aquatic center or my office. Just call me if you have any trouble finding me once you're here." She said kindly but Emily could clearly hear the nerves in the other woman's voice.

Emily nodded even though Rachel couldn't see her, "Thank you. I'll see you soon."

"Sure thing Emily." Rachel said, "Bye."

Emily said a quick bye back before hanging up and pulling herself up off the couch. She quickly sent Paige a text letting her know that she was leaving the house and wasn't sure if she'd be home before Paige and the kids were before grabbing her keys to her car off the kitchen counter and making her way out to the car. She remembered how to get to the school and made it there in just over an hour, but she didn't know how to get to Rachel's office. She figured it was probably either in or near the natatorium so she just made her way in that direction.

Emily finally made it to the natatorium and pushed the doors open to find that practice may have already started. She paused by the door to take in what was going on around her. She instantly spotted Rachel standing by the edge of the pool speaking to a girl who had her arms supported on the concrete beside the pool, keeping herself above water as she spoke to the other woman. Emily took a moment to glance around and she felt a familiarity in the room. Of course she had been here before when she was in college herself but she could recognize the updates to the place easily that were made within what she assumed were the last few years, which made her feel even more comfortable.

"Hey check it out, coach is back!" Someone stated, bringing Emily out of her thoughts and her attention back to the people around her.

Emily gave an awkward wave to the group as a whole not really knowing what else to do. Clearly they knew her but as she looked around none of the woman really stood out to her as someone she knew besides Rachel. Rachel gave Emily a small smile before turning her attention to the rest of the women in the room, "Listen up! I'm going to go have a small talk with coach and then I'll be back. Until then keep working on what you're doing, I don't want anyone slacking off while I'm gone, got it?"

A chorus of 'got it' and 'yes coach' rang out throughout the room before Rachel nodded once in appreciation before gesturing for Emily to follow her, which she did. Rachel walked her through a door and down a hallway, back to a small room towards the back. Rachel held the door open and waited for Emily to walk through before entering and closing the door behind her.

Emily took a seat in one of the chairs in front of what she assumed to be Rachel's desk but as she glanced around the room she noticed that she was in a lot of the pictures that were around the room. Rachel followed Emily's eyes as they moved around the room and as if reading her mind she answered Emily's question, "Assistant coaches don't get fancy offices or anything," She explained, "so since you've been gone I've kind of took over yours."

Emily nodded in understanding before Rachel continued, "I haven't changed anything though because I figured you would be back at some point." The other woman assured her.

Emily simply nodded again although she wasn't sure when she would be allowed to come back. She still knew swimming as well as she ever had but the university had previously decided that it was best if she took some time to rest and just sit this season out as the head coach. And although Paige had explained to her that they were just looking out for Emily's best interest and that they were by no means thinking about firing Emily, she wasn't sure how things were going to work out anymore.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Rachel said hesitantly bringing Emily back into the moment.

As sure as Emily was about things she didn't want to bluntly come out and say what she wanted to. By the nervous look on Rachel's face Emily was sure the other woman was fully aware of why she was here. Emily took a moment to think before deciding the easiest way to go about this was finding out what Kacey knew from Rachel.

"The other day at the soccer field, why was Kacey acting so weird around you?" Emily asked taking in Rachel's reaction before continuing, "She acted weird all night after that and she won't tell me what's going on but I have a feeling it has something to do with you."

Rachel took a deep breathe through her nose before hanging her head slightly and closing her eyes as she brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, "So she didn't say anything then?" Rachel asked as she brought her gaze back up to meet a frustrated Emily.

"Does it matter what she told me?" Emily asked a little harshly with narrowed eyes, "You know what happened so why can't you just tell me!"

"I can, I just," Rachel paused trying to find the right way to explain it, "I just don't know what Kacey thought was going on, I don't even know what she saw, I tried to find out but as you could've probably guessed she wasn't very open to the idea of speaking to me."

"Why not? What do you think she saw?"

"We were kissing." Rachel admitted and Emily let out a shaky sigh as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat, "but not really," She said quickly before pausing. She pinched the bridge of her noise again as she closed her eyes tightly, clearly struggling, "I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking I just we were getting close and I just I kissed you." Rachel stated in a panic, "I know I shouldn't have and honestly Emily I didn't even mean to, it just, it just happened." Rachel tried to explain, "You-"

"Rachel!" Emily said firmly to cut off the other woman's rambling.

"Sorry." Rachel said as she sat back down in the chair that she had managed to leave during her small rant.

"Just tell me what happened." Emily said, "Why were we kissing?"

Rachel nodded quickly while swallowing, "Right, okay so, it was a couple of days before you got into your accident," She started, "Practice had been over for a few hours already and I saw the light in your office on when I was leaving. You staying here late was kind of becoming a habit, but anyways I saw your lights on so I went in to see what you were doing…"

 _Rachel twisted the door knob gently and pushed the door open slowly not wanting to startle Emily, "What could you possibly still be doing here?" Rachel asked causing Emily to look up at her._

 _Emily let a small smile creep onto her lips as she shook her head and set her pen down on top of the stack of papers in front of her, "There's always something to do around here Rach, you of all people should know that." Emily stated with a raised eyebrow._

 _Rachel walked into the room and nodded, "You know you do have an assistant for a reason." She stated as she approached Emily's desk and looked down at the papers in front of her, "I can finish looking through those for you so you can get home." Rachel offered thumbing through the stack of recruitment papers._

 _Emily shook her head, "I'd rather just look at them myself."_

 _Rachel nodded knowing that she wasn't going to be able to convince Emily to just let her do it. She knew Emily was hands on and wanted full control of which women were selected to be on the team. "Fine but it's getting late and knowing you I'm sure you would stay here all night to get through these if you could, so at least let me keep you company before I have to force you to leave a little later."_

 _Emily laughed as she nodded her head knowing Rachel was right, "That'd be amazing." She stated before bring her hand up to rest on her forehead, "God Paige is going to kill me for being home late again." She said as she glanced over at the clock for the first time in a while, not really realizing how late it had gotten._

 _Rachel gently placed her hand on Emily's shoulder and squeezed it softly, "Is there a reason you've been staying at work so late lately?" She asked curiously, removing her hand from Emily's shoulder and walking over to the other side of the desk to grab a chair before moving it back over to where Emily was at, sitting down next to her._

 _"_ _It's just been crazy around the house, that's all."_

 _Rachel nodded slowly not sure if she should push Emily on the topic. She waited a moment in the silence as Emily went back to skimming through the papers in front of her before deciding on changing the topic, "Hey wasn't Kacey with you earlier?" She questioned looking around, "Where'd she go?"_

 _"_ _Oh my god," Emily said, eyes widening as she dropped the pen in her hands and reached for her phone, "I completely forgot she came with me today." She admitted in a slight panic, texting the younger girl asking where she was. "She went with a couple of the girls from the team after practice to get some food, but that was hours ago."_

 _Rachel let out a small laugh, "I'm sure she's fine, she's probably still with the other girls."_

 _Emily sighed and nodded her head, letting some of the worry slip away from her, "Yeah you're probably right."_

 _"_ _What's gotten into you lately Em?" Rachel asked, her laughter still dying down._

 _Emily simply shrugged, "I'm just tired, that's all." She said threading her fingers through her hair, "And I've just had lot on my mind the last week or so."_

 _"_ _Are you sure everything's okay Em?" Rachel asked seriously as she studied Emily. The woman had been off all week and it was obvious that the woman in front of her was exhausted. The slight circles under her eyes and the way she seemed to be moving much slower lately gave her away._

 _"_ _I don't know," Emily finally stated after a brief moment. "Like I said there's just been a lot going on at home and it's just been a stressful week."_

 _"_ _Do you want to talk about it?"_

 _Emily let out a sarcastic laugh, "No, I spend enough time arguing about it with Paige and when I'm not arguing with her I'm arguing with her daughter." She stated as she rubbed at her face letting out a small groan, "Just every day is something knew and I just feel like I need a break from it all, you know?"_

 _Rachel nodded her head even though she probably didn't get the exact way Emily felt. Rachel was single and had never really had a tightknit family or anything like that so she wasn't used to being in situations like Emily's current one. However, she figured it was best to just pretend she understood where Emily was coming from and do her best to take her mind off of things for the time being, "Well lucky for you, you have me to distract you for a little while until Kacey comes back and you have to return to the cruel real world."_

 _Emily tapped the pen in her hand against her desk turning to Rachel, forgetting about the papers she was going through as she laughed, "You are definitely the best assistant ever." Rachel smiled back at Emily, a blush rising to her cheeks as she nodded in agreement._

 _Emily and Rachel sat there for nearly an hour going through the recruitment papers as they talked and laughed about whatever could come to their minds. Somewhere along the way they had almost completely forgotten about the papers they were supposed to be going through and had become engrossed in each other, unintentionally leaning closer together as time went on. Before either one of them knew what was happening Rachel was leaning in, not being able to resist the close proximity that Emily and her were in at the moment._

 _Rachel slowly moved closer as she connected her lips to Emily's softly for a brief moment before slightly pulling away. Rachel's eyes barely cracked opened as her lips ghosted over Emily's for a second before she leaned in again. Rachel lightly placed her fingers under Emily's chin, tilting her head up as Rachel captured the other woman's top lip in between her own lips, enjoying the shortly lived moment._

 _She was quickly brought back to reality when a hand forcibly connected to her chest and she was shoved back so hard that she nearly fell out of the chair she was in. Rachel regained her balance on the chair as she rubbed at her chest before looking up to find a horrified Emily standing a few feet away now, looking down at her._

 _It took Rachel less than a second to realize what she had just done as her own eyes widened to match Emily's but before she could say anything Emily's voice cut through the room, "I'm married." She stated, more so to herself then to Rachel._

 _Rachel shook her head in a panic, "I know." She rushed out, "I'm so sorry Emily. I don't, I don't know why I did that."_

 _"_ _Oh my God." Emily breathed out softy as her head leaned back and her hands covered her face as she took in what had just happened. Rachel let her have a moment to collect herself, figuring that continuously babbling out 'sorrys' to Emily wasn't going to make either of them feel any better._

 _"_ _What am I supposed to tell Paige," Emily exclaimed to no one in particular as she continued to panic on the other side of the room, "What did I just do?"_

 _"_ _Nothing." Rachel said sharply getting a look from Emily, "I mean you didn't do anything." She explained, gesturing around with her hands, "It was all me and I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. In fact I don't even remember thinking of doing that so there, I wasn't thinking at all, that's why it happened. But this isn't your fault Emily it's mine, it was all me and I'm so sorry. It'll never happen again. I know you're married and I would never intentionally do anything to jeopardize that." She rambled out quickly._

…"I couldn't calm you down." Rachel continued to explain, "You were freaking out and eventually you just said it would be best if I just left so I did."

Emily nodded her head taking everything in. She was relieved to hear that even though the two had kissed it wasn't anything more than that, "So nothing else happened then?" Emily asked to make sure she wasn't missing any parts of the story, "Just that one time?"

"When I left your office and went to leave Kacey was sitting out by the pool, it was obvious she had seen something." Rachel explained, causing Emily to narrow her eyes in confusion, "I'm guessing the window. The blinds weren't closed." Rachel stated answering Emily's unasked question of how Kacey could see anything without them noticing, pointing behind Emily. She turned and noticed the window on the wall of the office that looked into the locker room and sighed in understanding.

"I didn't say anything to her, I didn't think it was my place." Rachel explained shrugging.

"So then that was it? We left it at that?" Emily asked again.

Rachel shook her head, "We were supposed to have a few days off but you called me to meet up with you here. Kind of like you did today." Rachel continued to explain, "You were still upset."…

 _Rachel got to Emily's office door and took a deep breath not wanting to go in. She couldn't stop feeling guilty for what she had done and Emily being upset over it wasn't helping her get over it. She didn't know what Emily was going to say to her, she hadn't talked to her since the night it had happened and it was all she could think about for the last few days. Rachel closed her eyes and took one more deep breath as her hand wrapped around the door knob, forcing herself to turn it as she opened her eyes._

 _"_ _Hey." She had meant to say in confidently but her voice got stuck in her throat and her greeting barely came out at all due to her nerves._

 _Emily, who was pacing throughout the office stopped in her tracks when she heard the voice and quickly whipped her head around to face Rachel, not voicing a greeting before gesturing for the woman to enter the room. The blonde carefully stepped into the office, gently closing the door behind her but not moving any further into Emily's space. Rachel immediately moved her gaze to study Emily's face and it was fairly obvious that the woman across from her wasn't doing well. She had bags under her eyes to indicate the lack of sleep she had been getting lately, and the same look of guilt from the night they kissed was still plastered across her face. Rachel, not wanting to push Emily for anything, silently stayed where she was and waited for Emily to speak._

 _It took a few moments but Emily eventually swallowed the lump in her throat down and broke the heavy silence, "I don't know what to do." Emily said quietly, her voice cracking as she stared hopelessly at Rachel._

 _Rachel redirected her line of sight away from Emily, not being able to handle the pained look that she knew she was responsible for. Rachel wasn't sure what had happened in the last few days with Emily and her family, but by Emily's devastating appearance, Rachel figured it couldn't have been well._

 _"_ _Did you tell Paige what happened?" Rachel asked cautiously._

 _Emily's eyes fell to her feet as she shook her head 'no' slowly, quickly moving her hand up to wipe away a stray tear that had fallen before taking a shaky breath. Rachel nodded slowly in understanding even though Emily wasn't looking at her._

 _"_ _Did you talk to Kacey?"_

 _Emily's head shot back up at this, "What? Why would I say anything to Kacey?"_

 _Rachel's eyes widened in panic. She was sure Kacey had seen them the night they kissed but maybe she was wrong. Kacey definitely would have said something to Emily if she had seen anything, right?_

 _"_ _Rachel?!" Emily exclaimed taking the other woman out of her thoughts quickly._

 _"_ _I-" Rachel shook her head slightly as she shrugged, "I don't know. I just-" Rachel stumbled on her response, not wanting to worry Emily further, "when I left she-"_

 _"_ _She what?" Emily asked impatiently when Rachel cut off her statement again._

 _"_ _I just, I think she may have seen us." Rachel finally got out and instantly regretted opening her big mouth when Emily looked at her in shock as tears started to freely flow down the tan skinned woman in front of her. Rachel went to reach out for the woman to try to comfort her a little but Emily was quick to stop her, stepping further away from the blonde._

 _"_ _Oh my god. Why would you think that?" Emily exclaimed angrily, "She didn't say anything to me. No, no, no, no, no." Emily stammered out as she covered her face with her hands, "This can't be happening, what if she says something to Paige."_

 _"_ _Emily-"_

 _"_ _Don't!" Emily cut her off, "Rachel I'm married and I have a family and I just, I don't know what to do." Emily sighed in defeat as she plopped down into the chair next to her and buried her face in her hands._

 _Rachel waited a moment before slowly approaching Emily. She reached out to rest her hand on Emily's shoulder in comfort but decided against it, pulling her hand back away before kneeling down next to Emily's chair, "Emily just tell Paige what happened" She advised gently, "I kissed you and you pulled away, it was a mistake on my part and she's not going to hold you accountable for it. And if Kacey did see anything then just explain it to her. They'll both understand."_

 _Emily shook her head, which was still resting in her hands and Rachel sighed, "Why?" She asked not understanding why Emily just wouldn't tell Paige what happened between them, "Why can't you just explain what happened?" It was completely innocent on Emily's part and they both knew that if Paige was going to be mad at anyone it would be Rachel herself._

 _"_ _Because I feel guilty." Emily mumbled out softly._

 _"_ _Why, you didn't do anything wrong Em." She reassured her, this time reaching out and lightly squeezing Emily's knee in comfort._

 _"_ _Yes I did." She breathed out with a sigh, finally lifting her head from her hands, "Yeah you're the one who kissed me but I kissed you back. For that split second you pulled away, before you kissed me again, I knew what I was doing." She confessed, "I knew what I was doing and I kissed you anyways." Emily said as she stood up and made her ways towards the door of her office._

 _Rachel stood up from her kneeling position as fast as she could, calling after Emily who was now exiting the room, "Emily wait up."_

 _Emily however shook her head and hurried out of the locker room and through the aquatic center, Rachel close on her heels. Emily pushed through the doors and stepped out into the rain, jogging out into the parking lot and rushing over to her car. She unlocked the door and leaned down into the driver's seat before reaching to close the door. When the door was closed she could see Rachel approaching her door in the side view mirror and quickly locked the door._

 _Rachel attempted to pull the door open but quickly stopped when she realized that Emily had no intention of getting out of the car. She tapped against Emily's window, "Emily, please stop. Let's talk about this." She pleaded clearly seeing that Emily was crying and feeling that the rain was picking up._

 _Emily shook her head quickly as she fumbled her keys until she was able to get them in the keyhole and start up the car, "Emily stop!" Rachel tried again a little more firmly this time, genuinely worried about the other woman but despite her efforts, Emily put the car in drive and sped off._

 _Rachel watched for a moment as Emily's taillights got farther and farther away until they rounded the corner and her car was completely out of sight. Rachel sighed and quickly made her way back inside with intentions to call Emily and try to get her to come back but she decided that it would just make things worse and it would probably be best if she just gave Emily and her family some space to figure things out on their own. She let out a heavy sigh feeling guilty for causing this mess in the first place as she made her way to her own car and drove herself home…_

…"When you left here you were so upset." Rachel stated softly as she hung her head, "You were a mess Em, I didn't know what to do. I tried to go after you but you wouldn't stop." Emily heard the woman sniffling and saw her hand reach up to wipe away tears even though Rachel tried to do it discreetly, "I swear I tried to get you to come back inside and calm down, but you wouldn't listen to me." She choked out angrily as she tried to keep herself together.

Rachel stopped after that and silence fell over the room, neither one of the women knowing what to say anymore.

"It was the night of the accident wasn't it?" Emily asked, "I got into the accident after I left here didn't I?"

Rachel looked up to meet Emily's gaze and pursed her lips as a guilty look ran over her face, "Like I said, It was raining and you were upset. You were crying when you got to your car and you just sped off, I don't really think you were in a state to drive, especially in that kind of weather." Rachel said, pausing to take a deep breath before continuing, "When I got to work on Monday I heard that you had lost control of the car and flipped it on the freeway on your way home. I didn't know what to do, especially after they told me you hit your head and couldn't remember much."

"You felt like it was your fault, didn't you?" Emily asked in a hushed tone, although she didn't have to in order to know that the other woman took the blame for everything, it was obvious now that the entire thing had rested on Rachel's shoulders.

"It was wasn't it?" Rachel managed to get out as the tears started up again, "If I would have never kissed you then you wouldn't have been upset and you would have never even been out here that night, you wouldn't have been upset and you wouldn't have gotten into that car accident. You would be fine and all of these things that have happened would've been avoided."

Emily shook her head and stood up to walk over to Rachel, kneeling down next to the chair the blonde was sitting on and looked up at her, "It's not your fault Rachel, don't put this on yourself." Emily said as she ran her hand up and down the other woman's back.

When Rachel had mentioned what Emily had said in the office about her admitting to Rachel that she had known what she was doing when she kissed her back, she had remembered why she was so upset over the kiss and it definitely wasn't Rachel's fault.

Emily remembered the feel of Rachel's lips against hers and how they weren't quite like Paige's. She remembered how they were different from Paige's. They weren't quite as soft and her and Rachel's lips didn't move smoothly against each other's like when Paige would kiss her, instead her and Rachel's lips fumbled unknowingly against one another's.

She hadn't kissed anyone but Paige in so long that she had forgotten how people kissed differently from one another and she even remembers wanting to kiss Rachel back for a brief second before pulling away. Before realizing that the difference she was feeling wasn't good and she didn't like it at all. She remembers pulling away from the kiss and immediately feeling the guilt wash over her.

"Rachel I was telling the truth that night. I was so upset that night because I kissed you back. It wasn't your fault okay? I felt like I betrayed Paige because while I was kissing you, I wanted to. Even if it was for the briefest moment, I wanted to and I couldn't shake that." Emily admitted still feeling genuinely guilty over it.

"You wanted to kiss me?" Rachel asked shocked as her eyes met Emily again, who just sighed.

"Yes." Emily said as she stood up, "or at least I thought I did." She said, not sure how exactly to explain this, "me and Paige had been married for so long and we weren't having major problems or anything like that but we were spending a lot of time away from each other and I just lost my head for a moment." She stated as her old feelings rushed back to her.

"I guess that I just felt like we were in such a different place then we had been earlier in our relationship. I didn't love her any less and I know she didn't love me any less but honestly we weren't in the best place at the time. Spending every waking moment dealing with work and the kids, we didn't have as much time to spend on focusing on our own needs and what we needed from each other."

Emily stopped for a moment as she looked back at Rachel before continuing, "I was just feeling lonely and vulnerable and you were there for me. And what happened, happened because I wasn't feeling secure in my own relationship Rach, it had nothing to do with you. You were just caught in my crossfire. My moment of vulnerability where I gave in to something that I didn't even truly want."

Rachel nodded, "I never meant for any of this to happen."

Emily nodded, "I know. Me either."

"So we're okay then?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

Emily let a small smile graze her lips, "Of course we are." She said, "I just have to get home and explain myself to a few people."

Rachel let out an awkward laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Yeah sorry about that. Kacey's definitely not my biggest fan anymore and soon enough I'm sure Paige won't be either."

Emily nodded, knowing that the other woman was probably right, "probably not but hopefully I can find a way to smooth everything over with them."

"Good luck." Rachel said as she stood from her chair and in front of Emily, "I'm sorry again for all this." She said still feeling a little guilty. Emily was about to restate that it wasn't Rachel's fault but the blonde cut her off before she got the chance, "I know, I know. It's not my fault but I'm still sorry anyways." She said and Emily nodded stepping forward to hug the woman.

Rachel sighed in content, feeling much better about the situation that she had been a large part in creating. She pulled away gently and smiled at Emily, who thanked Rachel for helping her figure everything out before turning to leave the office with one last smile.

Emily made her way back to her car much more excited to get home and sort everything out now that she knew she wasn't having an affair with anyone. She was confident that she would never do such a thing to Paige and her family but even she had to admit that she had her fair share of doubts for a little while there. Emily hopped in her car and carefully drove back home.

About an hour later Emily was entering the house through the door in the garage, wanting to be as quite as she could. She hadn't expected to be gone for as long as she was and didn't know what to expect when she walked into the house. The lights in the kitchen were off along with the ones in the living room that usually seeped into the kitchen from around the corner. Emily glanced over to the clock on the stove and saw that it was barely past 7 p.m. Emily squinted her eyes in confusion, the girls were usually still up and around at this time but the house seemed pretty dead. Emily dropped her keys on the counter and shrugged off her jacket before making her way upstairs. She knocked lightly on Kacey and Parker's bedroom door before opening the door just enough to see inside.

Kacey was seated at the small desk in the room and turned her head to look at Emily immediately while Parker sat with her back against her headboard, her ankles crossed with her laptop on her lap not noticing Emily right away. She finally glanced up when Emily stepped a little further into the room and dropped the headphones over her ears down to rest around her neck.

"Hey." Emily said quietly, quickly noticing the glare coming from Parker and the look of guilt plastered across Kacey's face, "Can I talk to you alone for a second Kace?"

Kacey exchanged a look with Parker immediately causing Emily to look over at Parker who had her eyes locked on her little sister. Emily watched as Parker rolled her eyes before pushing the laptop off her lap and onto the bed along with her headphones before swinging her feet off the side and standing up.

"Let me know when you guys are done," Parker grumbled as she made her way to the bedroom door annoyed, "Hope you had a good night with the mistress." Parker mumbled as she walked past Emily causing her to grab the younger girls arm.

"What'd you just say to me?" She asked harshly, having heard the brunette perfectly clear. Parker avoided Emily's gaze the best she could as she stared angrily at nothing. "I don't care what you think you know," Emily stated firmly, surprised by the girl's remark, "You don't talk to me like that."

Parker forced out a 'sorry' that was clearly in-genuine. Emily let go of the girls arm and guided her towards the door with a light push. Parker exited the room closing the door a little harder than Emily would have liked but she understood why the young girl was upset.

Emily sighed and turned her attention back to Kacey who looked as guilty as Emily had ever remembered seeing her, "It's fine." Emily said figuring out on her own that Kacey must had told Parker about Rachel.

Kacey shook her head, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to. I didn't even really tell her." She admitted, "She overheard us this morning in the kitchen and when she asked me about it I didn't know what to say, so I just told her what I knew."

Emily walked over and leaned against the desk that Kacey was sitting at, placing her hand lightly on the younger girls shoulder, "Kacey it's fine. You never should have felt a need to keep that to yourself in the first place and I'm really sorry I put you in a position where you had to do that."

Kacey hung her head slightly as she nodded slowly. She was glad that no one was mad at her over this whole thing and she was relieved to know that she wasn't the only one who knew what Emily had done anymore. Kacey looked up at Emily curiously, "So what did you find out from Rachel?" She asked softly.

"She told me that she thinks you saw us kissing." Emily said causing the girl in front of her to nod in conformation, "And then she explained to me why that happened." Emily continued gaining Kacey's full interest, "I wasn't cheating on your mom. It was just a onetime thing that should've never happened. I didn't initiate it and I made it very clear at the time that I was married and that I wasn't interested so you have nothing to worry about."

Kacey let out a sigh of relief as she pulled herself up out of her chair and hurriedly locked her arms around her mother's waist. Emily let a small smile creep onto her lips as she hugged the girl back tightly, placing a kiss on the top of the girls head before pulling away, "Why didn't you just say something to me about what you saw right away?" Emily questioned, concerned that Kacey had to keep this to herself for as long as she did.

Kacey just shrugged, honestly not sure why she hadn't said anything to anyone, "I guess I was mad at first." She admitted, "After I saw you and her together I had every intention of calling you out on it as soon as you came out from the locker room, but I couldn't do it. I guess I just didn't want to know if you really were cheating and then you got in that accident a couple days after and when you woke up and didn't remember anything I thought maybe that was for the best, you know that maybe if you really weren't happy with mom before that you would be now."

Emily shook her head, now the one feeling guilty, "I'm extremely happy with your mom Kacey, I always have been." She reassured her, "And maybe it's not always perfect but I would never do anything like that to hurt her."

Kacey nodded, "I guess it just freaked me out when you didn't tell her right away." She mentioned before pausing to think it over a little, "Like if you didn't say anything that maybe you had something to hide."

Emily sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "Like I said Kace, not everything between me and Paige has always been perfect and you know what honey, when you're in a relationship for as long as we've been together every once in a while, when things aren't going the way you want them to, you let yourself think is it all worth it from time to time or if things just aren't working anymore." Emily admitted honestly, "That's natural."

Kacey nodded understandably before a look of worry came over her face as she let Emily's words sink in, "So what'd you come up with?" She asked getting a look of confusion from Emily, "What you have with mom?" Kacey elaborated, "Is it worth it?"

Emily let a grin take over her face as she let a breath of air out of her noise in a laugh not even having to think about this one, "Of course it's worth it." She said as she slung her arm around the girl's neck and pulled her in again for another hug, "You're all worth it for me, no matter what. And I'm sorry I ever made you doubt that."

"You didn't." Kacey stated quickly, "I knew you would never do that to us."

Emily released the girl from her grip and sighed, "Now I just have to get your sister to believe that."

Kacey let out a small laugh, "Don't worry, deep down she already knows. She's just being stubborn, that's all."

Emily nodded and made her way out of the room and down the stairs to find her other daughter. She glanced around the empty living room and made her way to the kitchen not knowing where else the girl could be. She dint find her there but as she turned around to go back upstairs, movement in the backyard caught her eye. She sighed and opened the sliding glass door, stepping out into the brisk night, closing the door behind her before walking over to Parker who was sitting at the side of the pool.

"Hey." Emily offered as she stood over the young brunette.

Parker craned her neck slightly to look up at Emily, "Hi." She replied before looking back into the lit up pool as she moved her feet gently in the water.

Emily sighed uncomfortably before slipping her shoes off and lowering herself to sit next to Parker, their shoulders brushing as she sank her feet into the water. They sat there in silence for what seemed like forever before Parker gave in, turning her gaze towards Emily, "I'm sorry for what I said."

Emily nodded her head, an understanding smile barely grazing her lips, "It's okay. I-"

Parker shook her head quickly cutting off Emily, "No it's not." She argued, "And I know it's not. I just…I just get angry sometimes and I don't really think before I do or say things."

Emily nodded again, "I understand why you're angry and I really want to explain myself because I don't know what Kacey told you or what you're thinking but it's not what it seems."

"Look if you're looking to have another one of those heart to heart talks that we've been having lately, I'd rather not." Parker threw in as she narrowed her eyes at the water, "We've had way too much of that going on lately and I really would rather not get all touchy feely again." Parker said and Emily couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she watched the girl talk with her hands with a look of disgust plastered across her face.

"God you're worse than Paige." Emily teased as she bumped the brunettes shoulder with her own.

Parker let a smile graze her lips as she dipped her head in attempt to hide it, "Whatever, it's just not my thing." She admitted.

"Fair enough." Emily complied, "Just know that what your sister saw was a onetime thing that never went any further than what she saw."

Emily paused for Parker's reaction, but when the young brunette didn't do or say anything Emily continued, "I know you don't want any deep feeling talk about what was going on then with me so I'll just give you the quick things weren't perfect." Emily said with a sigh, stopping when Parker looked over at her, "But I'm not someone who would ever do that to my family, okay?"

Parker studied Emily's face carefully. The words were genuine and she honestly didn't want to let Emily off the hook so easy but it was hard not to believe what her mother was telling her. Parker nodded and leaned her head onto Emily's shoulder. Emily was hoping for more from the girl but didn't push for anything as she wrapped an arm around Parker's torso and pulled her closer.

"You better get back to your room." Emily said into the top of the girls head before placing a kiss there, "I need to go talk to your mom."

Parker pulled her head off her shoulder and nodded, "I think I'm going to stay out here for a few more minutes." She responded, earning another nod from Emily as the older woman stood up.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, grabbing her shoes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Parker said. Emily looked at her momentarily, trying her best to read the girl to make sure she was okay, which earned her a laugh that slipped from Parkers lips, "I'm fine mama, promise." Parker reassured Emily.

"Okay." Emily said warily but turned and returned to the house anyways, leaving Parker to her own thoughts.

Emily dropped her shoes on the kitchen floor and made her way upstairs and down the hallway. She was dreading talking to Paige tonight. She wasn't sure why though. She was relieved that she hadn't cheated on Paige but she couldn't help but let bad thoughts creep into the back of her mind. What if Paige didn't believe her, or thought that she had been hiding something more before the accident? What was she supposed to do then? And the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Paige, even in the slightest way. She knew Paige was having a rough week as it was and she didn't want to put any more stress on her wife.

She paused outside the door for a moment, taking a deep breathe before opening the door to walk in. The sight that she was met with made her smile and she couldn't help but wonder how Paige and her had ever grown apart even the slightest bit at one point in their lives.

Paige was laying horizontal on the bed in a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt that Emily knew was hers. She was fast asleep, her knees bent and Taylor with her back against Paige's stomach. The little girl resting against Paige, moved her eyes away from the lit tv screen and smiled widely at Emily, who put her finger to her lips gesturing for the girl to stay quiet.

Taylor nodded in understanding, a serious look falling over her face before her smile reappeared and she waved excitedly at Emily. Emily let out a small chuckle and walked over to the bed, tucking one of her legs under her before sitting down on the side next to Paige's head. Emily lightly ran her fingers across Paige's forehead, moving some hair that had fallen over her eyes before looking up at Taylor who had nuzzled her back into her previous spot against Paige.

"What are you doing in here?" Emily asked curiously.

"Mommy and me were waiting for you to get home." She whispered loudly before looking over her shoulder, down at Paige, who was still sleeping, "Mommy fell asleep though."

"Well mommy's had a long week and is clearly tired so why don't we let her get some rest. You go brush your teeth and I'll be in there in a minute to tuck you in okay?" Taylor pouted slightly as her eyes glanced up at the tv, but the little girl sighed softly and climbed over to Emily who helped her down to the ground before she ran off to her room. Emily shook her head at the amount of energy the little girl had before she turned her attention back to her sleeping wife.

She threaded her fingers through Paige's hair as she leaned down to place a kiss right next to the other woman's ear, "Paige." Emily said softly into her ear, in attempt to wake the woman. When there were no signs of movement she placed another kiss against her ear and tried again, "Babe, wake up."

This time Paige let out a small groan as she lifted her arms to snake them around Emily's waist, pulling herself closer to Emily and burying her face in the tanned woman's stomach as she gripped onto her shirt, "no." Paige grumbled out causing Emily to let out a laugh as her hand found the hem of Paige's shirt and her hand slipped up the back, running her nails across Paige's lower back. This elicited a satisfied sigh from Paige and another chuckle from Emily.

"Come on, you don't have to get up just get in bed the right way." Emily said, rolling Paige's head off of her thigh and standing up, walking around the bed to Paige's side. She pulled down the covers before she gripped the woman's thigh with one hand and pulled her by the shoulder with the other, trying to get her wife in the correct spot. Paige eventually scooted herself into her spot and Emily pulled the covers up over her.

Emily turned to leave but was quickly stopped when Paige reached out and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back, "Where are you going?" She asked, eyes still closed.

Emily laughed, "I just have to put Tay to bed and then I'll be back okay?"

"M'kay" Paige managed to get out before letting her hold fall loose and letting Emily leave the room.

Emily quickly made her way to Taylor's room and tucked the little girl into bed and then went to check on the two older girls quickly before heading back to her own room. She entered slowly, closing the door behind her and stopped in the corner of the room to look at Paige who had fallen back asleep, to no one's surprise.

Emily sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She was kind of relieved that she didn't have to have this talk about what happened with Rachel tonight, but at the same time she felt guilty for keeping Paige in the dark for another day. She figured there was no point in worrying about it now though, she wasn't going to wake up Paige. She knew the other woman was having trouble sleeping and was happy that she finally was getting some rest. She quickly got in the shower and ready for bed, slipping into bed next to her wife at the end of the night. As she laid in bed, nuzzled up next to her wife, she couldn't help but hope that everything would be okay and that all of this was just a small bump in the road for them and that Paige would understand.


	25. Chapter 25

**As usual I hope you all enjoy the new chapter and please feel free to let me know what you thought whether it's good or bad. It's always appreciated and I love hearing from you guys :)**

Emily had been putting off talking to Paige all day, deciding to do it when the girls went to bed just in case Paige didn't react well to the situation. She definitely was hoping that Paige would take the problem in strides but Emily couldn't be certain of what the other woman would do. What she was certain of was the fact that she didn't want any three of her girls to hear them fighting if that's what it came down to.

The three girls had all just ran upstairs to shower and get ready for bed while Emily finished up with the dishes in the kitchen. Emily knew she couldn't put off the talk any longer when she heard movement in the living room and shifted her head slightly just in time to catch the sight of Paige headed for the stairs.

"Hey Paige?" Emily called out softly from the kitchen stopping Paige before she got the chance to get up past the first step.

"Hmm." Paige hummed in response, turning around to see what Emily wanted.

"Do you mind staying down here for a bit, I wanted to talk to you about something?" Emily asked hesitantly as she sat one of the last few dishes left to wash next to the sink, suddenly overwhelmed with nerves now that she was running out of dishes to occupy her and couldn't put off facing her wife any longer.

Paige raised an eyebrow in question but the curious look dropped from her face quickly, "Yeah sure thing." She said with a soft smile as she walked over and sat back down on the couch where she had just gotten up from, waiting for Emily to finish up in the kitchen.

Emily took a minute to attempt to calm her nerves down as she finished up the dishes before she made her way to where Paige was, having to remind herself to breathe. Despite the reminder she found it hard to breathe as she approached Paige and the brunette smiled up at her from her spot on the couch, stretching her arm across the back of it, inviting Emily to scoot in close to her. However, the smile on Paige's face slowly fell as Emily sat on the very edge of the couch instead of leaning back into it and faced Paige.

Paige sat up a little straighter in her spot, leaning forward to come face to face with Emily, resting her hand on the inside of the woman's knee as she rubbed small circles on her skin in attempt to get a tense looking Emily to relax, "Everything okay?" Paige asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, suddenly being hit with a wave of nerves herself.

"Yeah." Emily said unconvincingly with a nod as she tried to reassure Paige and maybe even herself. She placed one of her hands over Paige's hand that continued to rub softly against the inside of her knee, "I just needed to talk to you about something."

Paige nodded her head as the deep furrow fell from her face and a small smile grazed her lips once again instead, "Yeah Em, you already told me that." She teased, trying to make Emily feel a little better, "That's why I'm still down here remember."

Emily nodded, "Right." She said, feeling even guiltier after Paige's attempt at lightening the mood a little

Paige stared at Emily expectantly, waiting for the woman to say anything at all, the silence heavy as it settled over them, "so?" Paige finally asked not wanting to push Emily but the worry of Emily's odd behavior sinking in. She wasn't sure what Emily could possibly be struggling so much with telling her about.

Emily took a deep breath through her nose before lifting her gaze from her lap to look at Paige, "You know Rachel?"

"Your assistant Rachel?" Paige asked curiously, in which Emily nodded to in response, "Yeah, not very well but I know her. Sure. Why?" Paige asked not understanding why Emily wanted to talk about her.

"Before the accident…" Emily paused struggling to get out what she needed to as she let her eyes wander over Paige's worried features. Emily wasn't sure why this was so hard for her to just come out and say but it was. She wanted to get her explanation just right so Paige wouldn't freak out but she wasn't sure that was possible at this point and she was having a hard time finding the right words. With the way Paige had always been, Emily wasn't so sure if Paige would take this lightly no matter how she told her, so she decided it might be best just to get to the point and rip the band aid off instead of easing into it, "We kind of kissed."

Paige's face instantly fell and was in a state of complete confusion, "What do mean, you kind of kissed?" She asked in surprise as she slipped her hand out of Emily's and into her own lap, trying to wrap her head around the statement that had just slipped out of Emily's mouth. Paige gripped her thigh tightly with her suddenly sweaty hands in anticipation as she waited for Emily to answer.

"She kissed me in my office a couple of nights before the accident." Emily stated truthfully.

"She kissed you?" Paige asked and Emily simply nodded again, "And…and what did you do?" Paige asked and although she tried to sound like she had some confidence in how Emily responded to Rachel kissing her, Emily could hear the hesitation and worried undertone buried within the question.

Emily debated leaving out the part where she momentarily kissed Rachel back due to the fact that it was clear Paige wasn't going to take this situation lightly, but she ultimately decided that Paige deserved every bit of the truth no matter what that may bring on.

"I kissed her back. Bu-" Emily wasn't done but was cut off by Paige standing up off the couch abruptly.

"You kissed her back." Paige repeated in disbelief as she let out a huff, "You cheated on me?!" Paige asked angrily, completely blindsided by the revelation as she looked down at Emily who stood up in a panic when the words left Paige's mouth, to meet her face to face.

"No." Emily answered immediately with a stern tone, "I pushed her away."

"What after you were done kissing her?" Paige retorted not sure what to do or think.

"Paige would you just listen to me for a second, so I can explain what happened." Emily asked as she brought her hands up to rest on Paige's shoulder, trying to get her wife to sit back down or at least turn her body back to face her but Paige brushed Emily's hands off of her shoulders harshly and created space between them, clearly not wanting to be near her right now.

Paige gestured for Emily to go ahead and say what she needed to with her hands as she stood across from her wife, trying her best not to have a complete meltdown in the middle of the living room.

Emily sighed not even knowing how to get herself out of this one as her eyes ran over the look of betrayal plastered across Paige's face, "Yes I kissed her back but only for a second and then I pushed her away and I made it very clear that I wasn't interested in her. It was just one time Paige. I got caught up in a moment and it never happened again and it's never going to." Emily tried but when she stopped talking she couldn't read Paige's emotions. The once hurt look spread across Paige's features turned into a stoned look of blank expression as she stood across from her wife trying to process what Emily had just said to her.

"Why'd you do it?" Paige asked quietly, avoiding eye contact with Emily, not even sure she wanted to know the answer but she didn't know what else to say. She didn't know what one was supposed to do or say in this situation. It was a position that she had never expected to find herself in.

Emily knew why she did it, or at least she thought she did, but she knew her honest answer would hurt Paige. Paige waited patiently for Emily's answer which took longer than probably necessary, "You know how things were." Emily finally said, earning a scoff from Paige, who went into further disbelief than she even thought was possible.

"That's such a bullshit answer Emily." Paige spit back at her getting worked up again.

"Well what do you want me to say Paige?" Emily challenged, starting to get frustrated herself.

"I want you to tell me the truth!" She snapped. She had been trying not to raise her voice, remembering that the girls were still awake upstairs, but Paige was finding it hard to do at the moment as her temper started to flare up.

Emily stood there not really sure what Paige wanted from her, "That is the truth Paige, whether you want it to be or not." Emily argued.

"No. Tell the truth Emily." Paige demanded through gritted teeth, "I want you to admit that you wanted to kiss her." She said as she turned her back to Emily and threw her arms over her head, burying her face in them.

"Fine." Emily stated with a slight shrug as her eyes narrowed at the back of her wife's head, "I did, but it was just for a second. I would never cheat on you Paige."

"But you did!" Paige screamed back as she turned around to face Emily. Paige paused taking in a shaky breath in attempt to calm herself down as she stared at her wife. Emily was slightly startled by Paige's booming voice but recovered quickly taking advantage of Paige's pause to get a few more words in.

"It was just a kiss. One that should've never happened." Emily stated even though she knew Paige wasn't going to see it like that. "We were spending a lot of time apart and with everything that was going on…I don't know Paige." She said as she took in a shaky breath of herself before continuing, "I wasn't thinking straight Paige. Rachel was just there and she kissed me and I never should have kissed her back, I understand that, but I did and I can't do anything about it now. I really wish I could but I can't." Emily admitted feeling defeated.

"Is any of this supposed to be making me feel better?" Paige asked harshly, her words laced with sarcasm, not having an ounce of sympathy for Emily at the current moment as she dropped her hands down to her sides.

Emily sighed and simply stopped trying to explain herself, figuring it wasn't doing anything but making the situation any better. So instead she settled for an apology although she knew it wasn't going to fix anything, "I'm sorry."

Paige let out another sarcastic laugh as she shook her head, turning to go upstairs, "That doesn't make me feel better either."

"Wait!" Emily exclaimed as she rushed over and grabbed Paige's arms, stopping her not wanting to leave their fight like this. Paige ripped her arm out of Emily's grasp and narrowed her eyes at her, "I know I made a mistake Paige, but please can we just talk it out. I want to fix this." Emily pleaded as she took a step back away from Paige, trying to respect the woman's space.

"If you wanted to fix it so badly then why didn't you just tell me when it first happened?" Paige asked, still not understanding why Emily would do this to her, "It's been months since you've kissed her and I didn't know anything about it Emily. What am I supposed to think?"

"I was scared." Emily said honestly.

Paige shook her head, not sure what to do with that, "were you out with her the other night? Is that where you were?"

"I remembered what happened after I saw her yesterday at Taylor's practice." Emily explained, "I just went to talk to her so I could make sure I knew what happened before talking to you. It was nothing more than me just trying to figure out what had been going on."

"Great, not only is she moving in on my wife but she's spending time at my kid's soccer practice." Paige said mostly to herself as she rolled her eyes, the new piece of information further irritating her.

"Paige stop." Emily said getting frustrated with Paige's response again, even though she probably didn't have the right to.

"How do you expect me to act Emily?!" Paige yelled before turning her head to look upstairs and sighing, bringing her voice back down, "I just found out my wife is out kissing her assistant while they're at work and it's not just some random person, it's someone who spends time with all three of my kids and knows that the woman she's going around trying to make moves on is married with a family. How am I supposed to react to that Emily? It pisses me off!" Paige whispered harshly at Emily, still trying to keep their kids sheltered from the argument going on between them although she was pretty sure her and Emily had already failed at doing so.

"No one was making moves on anyone." Emily returned without hesitation.

"Are you kidding me? Someone made a move Emily or there wouldn't be any kissing going on and we wouldn't be in the middle of a fight right now!" Paige stated strongly, stepping back into Emily's space, "Are you sure she's the one who really made the move?"

Emily looked at Paige in surprise, not expecting Paige to turn this fully onto her. "You really think I would make a move on someone while we're married?" Emily asked, now just as mad as Paige.

"I don't know what to think anymore but clearly you're not too far above it since you kissed her." Paige said, finally coming to a point where she wasn't able to hold the tears that had been building up in her eyes back.

Emily stared at Paige as she watched her wife breathe heavily with anger as tears streamed down her face freely, despite the fact that the brunette in front of her was trying her best to hold them in, "I'm sorry." She said softly, tears of her own starting to run down her cheeks.

"It's not enough." Paige stated honestly, her voice cracking as she struggled to get the words out.

Emily nodded, understanding where Paige was coming from. They both stood there trying to regain their composure as their eyes both focused on the floor neither knowing where to take this next.

"Is everything okay?"

The voice startled both women when it broke through the heavy silence that had momentarily settled over them. Emily lifted her gaze from the floor to look at Paige who quickly wiped the tears on her face with the back of her hand and cleared her throat before turning her head to face upstairs, "Everything's fine Parker, go back to your room." Paige said trying to sound firm and as normal as possible but failing miserably.

Emily moved her eyes from the back of Paige's head to Parker, who stood at the top of the stairs. Parker had a look of worry on her face as she continued to stare at Paige, "It's okay Parker, go." Emily said as reassuringly as she could.

Parker nodded her head slowly even though it was clear she was hesitant and turned to go back into her room. Emily and Paige waiting until they heard the girl's bedroom door close again.

"I don't want any of them to know about this." Paige said looking up at Emily seriously, "If they didn't already hear us. And if they did hear us then you tell them they misheard what happened."

Emily cringed at that, causing Paige to straighten up a little in her stance and eye Emily curiously, "Emily?"

"They already know." She said deciding there was no point in lying to Paige any more than she already had.

"What?" Paige exclaimed clearly fired up again, "What the fuck Emily. What do you mean they already know?"

"I didn't tell them. Kacey saw it happen and then she told Parker after she heard me asking Kacey about it the other morning." Emily explained in a short ramble.

"I'm sorry, you cheated on me while our daughter was with you?!" Paige yelled as her eyes widened, "This just keeps getting better, please tell me more." Paige added sarcastically.

Emily sighed heavily as she rubbed her face anxiously before bringing her head back up to respond, "She was supposed to be out with some of the girls on the team, she just happened to come back right when it happened. It's not like it was some full-fledged affair that was planned Paige, it just happened. What do you want me to do, I can't help what happened."

Paige just shook her head as she turned to storm upstairs, not wanting to be near Emily right now. Emily didn't bother trying to stop her this time but still silently followed her wife upstairs and into their bedroom. She didn't have a chance to say anything more to Paige, who had slammed the bathroom door and locked it behind her just as Emily got into the room. Finally locked in the confines of her own space Paige let the strong front that she was trying to put up in front of Emily fall and moved deeper into the bathroom, letting herself crumble under everything she was just informed of.

Emily sighed as she stood outside of the bathroom door, she had never felt so bad in her life as she stopped herself from knocking on the door when she heard Paige crying on the other side. She never had meant to hurt Paige like this and much like it was for Paige, it suddenly all became too much for Emily too as she let her body slide down the wall and let her own tears fall as quietly as she could as her head fell into her hands, being completely lost in what to do now to make this better.

Emily wasn't sure how long she had sat with her back against the wall crying but eventually the tears slowed and she pushed herself up off of the ground as she wiped her face. She stopped for a moment to see if she could hear Paige on the other side of the bathroom door but there were no signs that anyone was even in there. She simply sighed and dragged her feet to the bed, sitting down on the edge trying to decide if it was a good idea or not to knock on the bathroom door to check on Paige. Emily eventually decided against it, instead letting Paige have a little time to herself to sort out her thoughts. Figuring it could be awhile Emily laid down on her side, facing the bathroom door and simply waited not knowing how long it would take for Paige to actually come out.

Emily had been laying there for a while and just when her eyes were getting heavy the sound of the bathroom doorknob jolted her into full consciousness. She sat up quickly from her spot on the bed when the bathroom door opened fully and she immediately felt her chest tighten in pain when she saw Paige's swollen eyes as the light from the bedroom hit the brunettes face. Paige however didn't even bother to look over at Emily as she walked straight into their closet. Emily stood up and walked over to see what her wife was doing and she felt more than her chest tighten in hurt when she saw Paige throwing things into a small sports bag that must have been in the back of the closet.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked even though she didn't have to. She knew exactly what Paige was doing.

"I just have to get out of here for a little bit." Paige said hoarsely, not bothering to look up from what she was doing. She finished packing a small bag of things quickly and walked straight past Emily, their shoulders brushing as she passed causing Emily to stumble back a little as Paige continued out their bedroom door.

Emily followed Paige down the stairs and stopped at the bottom as she watched Paige walk over towards the table by the front door to grab a set of keys off of it, "Paige, please don't leave." Emily said as she felt tears building up in her eyes again.

"I can't do this right now Emily. I have to get out of here." Paige said, not even bothering to look back at Emily, not trusting herself to be able to really leave if she saw Emily's face. Paige walked out into the garage and hopped into her old pickup truck in a rush.

Emily made her way to the door that lead out into the garage and stood in the doorway not sure how to get Paige to stop, not even sure if there was a way at all. So instead she stood in silence and watched Paige back out of the garage and drive away from their house. Emily sighed wiping at the tears that wouldn't seem to stop, closing the garage and slowly making her way back up to her and Paige's room. Emily immediately crawled into bed and curled up into herself under the sheets. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried herself to sleep but she was well aware that she was going to tonight. Sleep didn't come easy at all and when she woke up in the morning she could still feel the sting of her eyes from all of the crying and rubbing they had to endorse the night before.

She climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom to wash her face. As she looked at herself in the mirror she knew there was no way to hide the puffiness of her eyes and the bags that fell under them. She sighed not even bothering to try to make herself look any better as she exited the bathroom, stopping at the door of the bedroom not wanting to step out into the hall as she heard movement on the other side. Emily knew that at least one of the girls was up and even though they knew what was going on, she didn't really want to face any of them in her current state.

Emily swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath, trying her best to not look like a complete disaster as she opened the door and stepped out of the room, relieved to not see anyone immediately. That relief was short lived though when Parker's head peaked around the corner of her bedroom door, a look of sympathy plastered on her face, "Mornin' mama."

Emily did her best to force a small smile on her lips as she walked over to the girl, "Morning Park."

"Are you okay?" She asked clearly worried as her eyes scanned over Emily's face, quickly noticing the look of complete exhaustion.

Emily nodded, not wanting to have the kids worrying about her and Paige, "I'll be fine." She said with a small smile as she reached up with her hand to push some of Parker's messy bedhead back into place before moving past her and into the room, "I'm going to have to drop you guys off at school today so we have to leave a little earlier than usual so I can get everyone to where they need to be on time, okay?" She said to Parker as she started attempting to wake Kacey up.

Parker's eyes furrowed in confusion as she watched Kacey sit up in bed and rub her eyes, "Why can't mom take us to school like she usually does?" Parker asked, "Is she not going to work today?"

Emily sighed not knowing what to expect from the two young girls once they were told that Paige had left last night, "She needed some time to herself so she went to stay somewhere else last night, so she's not here."

"What?" Kacey asked in surprise, suddenly her grogginess completely gone, "She left?"

"Just for the night, okay? Nothing to worry about guys, just get ready for school." Emily said not wanting to get into anything, she didn't think she could handle anymore arguments over this right now. She stood up and walked out of the room, ignoring the worried looks that Kacey and Parker were both throwing in her direction.

When it came to making sure everyone in the house didn't worry too much about what was going on between her and Paige, Taylor was the easiest to convince. Emily was happy that the little girl didn't ask too many questions when she had gone into her room to get her up and ready for school, although Emily could tell she wanted to.

Emily somehow managed to get everyone out of the house at a fairly decent time and got everyone to school close enough to the right time for no one to get into trouble. After dropping everyone off she went home but being in an empty house all day while she waited to go back to pick up the girls wasn't helping her feel any better. The day had gone by slow and she had even tried to text Paige a few times. She knew she would be working but usually Paige would text Emily back between breaks or during her lunch, but not today she didn't, which Emily wasn't too surprised about. She had expected Paige to give her a little bit of the cold shoulder but Emily was having a hard time accepting it.

Emily was more than happy when the time to pick up the girls came around, feeling the need to be around someone so the fact that not everyone she loved hated her could be validated.

"Hey, how was school?" Emily asked as Kacey and Parker jumped into the car and she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Mom didn't show up." Kacey informed her mother immediately causing Emily to look at the girl through the rearview mirror.

"What?" Emily asked surprised that Paige hadn't shown up to work.

Kacey just shrugged, "She wasn't there all day. I stopped by her classroom during break and there was a sub in there."

"Yeah and I ran over to the locker room after school to see if she was there and she wasn't." Parker added, "Mama we have a big meet today, she has to show up."

In the midst of everything Emily had completely forgotten about the swim meet the girls had tonight but she quickly recovered, "Okay, it's fine. I'll try to get ahold of her when we get home, I'm sure she'll be there tonight." Emily reassured them, earning nods from both girls.

Emily quickly swung by Taylor's school to pick her up but other than that the rest of the drive home was silent, no one bothering to try to make small talk. When they got home, Emily immediately went up to her room and tried to call Paige, who didn't pick up. Emily sighed, the stress of today starting to get to her. She tried Paige a few more times before she gave up and called her mom. Emily had figured that Paige might have went there last night considering Paige had left her wallet behind and wouldn't have had any money to stay at a hotel.

 _"_ _Hi honey, is everything okay?"_

"Yeah everything's fine mom, I was just trying to get ahold of Paige." Emily explained quickly, "By any chance is she over at your house."

 _"_ _Yes she's here. What happened Emily?"_ Pam asked, concern laced in her tone.

Emily wasn't surprised that Paige hadn't told anyone what had happened between them. Paige was definitely one who avoided other people being in her and Emily's business, especially when it came to their relationship. "I really don't want to get into it right now mom." Emily said. When her mom didn't say anything back Emily let out a sigh, "Look mom I'll tell you everything later okay, can I just talk to her for a second, please."

Her mother was clearly hesitant but eventually answered, _"Of course, hold on."_

Emily could hear shuffling around on the other end of the phone and her mom's hushed tone mumbling to someone who Emily could only assume was Paige. It took Pam a little longer to get Paige on the line than it should have and Emily knew that Paige probably still didn't want to talk to her just yet but then Paige's voice suddenly came through the line pulling Emily out of her thoughts.

 _"_ _Hello."_

"Hey." Emily said timidly, "Umm the girls said you weren't at school today." Emily said softly as she sat down on the corner of the bed and waited for Paige's response.

She heard Paige let out a small sigh before she answered, _"Yeah I uh…I didn't get much sleep last night, so I called in sick to try to get a little more rest."_

Emily nodded her head as she pursed her lips, "Yeah I didn't get much sleep either." Emily said leading the phone call into complete silence, the soft sounds of breathing being the only thing letting either know no one had hung up.

Emily couldn't remember ever feeling this awkward having a conversation with her own wife but that's definitely what it was. Awkward. "Umm I was just calling because I-…the girls were worried about you." Emily stuttered out, "You know with you not showing up today and then with the meet tonight and everything, you know they just wanted…they just wanted to know if you were going to be there to coach or…whatever." Emily rambled on before stopping herself, closing her eyes and slightly throwing her head back not knowing why it was suddenly so hard to talk to Paige.

Paige didn't respond immediately and Emily wondered if she was feeling just as uncomfortable on the other line. _"No, yeah I'll be there."_ Paige finally said and Emily once again simply nodded, _"Umm tell them not to worry."_ Paige added quickly.

"Okay." Emily stated, "I…I guess I'll let you go then?" It came out as a question, a part of her wanting Paige to stay on the line with her. She was well aware that the other woman wouldn't but she let herself hope for it despite the chances of it actually happening being well against her.

 _"_ _Alright."_ Paige responded before pausing and both women sat on the line in silence for a few more moments before Paige's voice softly broke through the line again, _"Bye."_

Emily cleared her throat before returning a quick 'bye', but continued to hold her phone tightly to her ear. She could still hear Paige's breathing on the other end of the phone and even a few moments later when Paige had clearly hung up she continued to hold the phone to her ear, not wanting anything more than to just talk to Paige for a little while.

Emily let out a small sigh as she tossed her phone behind her, onto the bed and pushed herself up onto her feet. She went downstairs and told the girls that Paige would definitely be at the swim meet tonight so they didn't have anything to worry about.

Later that day when it was time for Emily to take the girls back to the high school for the swim meet she couldn't help but feel nervous once again as she parked the car and walked into the aquatic center behind her three girls. She knew she wouldn't have to talk to Paige until after the game but she was nervous to even see the other woman.

"Taylor, honey you have to stay with me." Emily said speeding her walk up a little and grabbing Taylor by the shoulders when she tried to continue walking to the locker room with her older sisters.

Taylor halted, leaning her head back behind her as far as she could to look up at Emily with a small pout, "But I wanna see mommy."

Emily turned the girl around to face her and lifted her, settling the girl on her hip before walking over to the bleachers, "You can see mom after the meet okay?" She said as she sat the girl down next to her.

The little girl nodded her head, getting over it quickly, distracted as the swimmers from the other team began to do warm ups in the pool. Emily sat patiently as she waited for the meet to start, getting so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed her and Paige's parents walking over to her until Taylor jumped up out of her seat and rushed over to the older couples walking up to her.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Pam asked as she took a seat next to Emily.

Emily gave her mom a small smile, "Fine." She responded shortly. Emily had completely forgotten about having to sit with not only hers but also Paige's parents for the entire meet. Emily glanced around at the small group of familiar faces and quickly noticed the worried gazes that were being thrown at her from all of them.

"Ah come on Emily, we know something happened last night between you and Paige." Nick said straight forwardly.

"Nick!" Paige's mom exclaimed, hitting the older man's chest with the back of her hand, "Don't be rude, it's none of your business."

"Nick shook his head wanting to know what was going on, "What's going on?"

Emily sighed and shook her head, "Nothing. We just got into a fight but it's fine." She said really not wanting to have to tell any of them what they had been fighting about. "I'm going to talk to Paige after the meet and see if we can work it out."

Everyone nodded, understanding why Emily didn't want to talk about it in the middle of a high school swim meet. Emily was grateful that everyone had seemed to accept the fact that she wasn't going to say anything but groaned when her mother informed her that her and the girls, along with Paige, would be expected at dinner tonight after the swim meet.

"Mom I don't think that's the best idea right now." Emily explained, "We clearly aren't in the best place and need to figure things out on our own time."

Pam shook her head, "The McCullers are leaving tomorrow afternoon and you all will be there."

Emily sighed before nodding, "Okay."

"Thank you." Pam stated, before they all fell into silence again as the meet started.

The meet went by quickly with the girl's high school coming out on top. Parker and Kacey had both won all of the events they took part in, except for one where Parker managed to edge Kacey by just over half a second. Paige was the first to emerge from the locker room after the meet and walked over to where Emily and Taylor were standing by the door waiting. Taylor launched herself away from Emily and ran off towards her other mother, meeting Paige in the middle of her path. Paige swooped the young girl up with a smile, kissing her cheek repeatedly causing Taylor to laugh. Emily couldn't help but smile, however she also couldn't help the tinge of guilt that entered her gut when she thought about her and Paige's fight and what she had done before the accident, putting all that she had in jeopardy.

"Hey." Paige said timidly as she set Taylor on the ground in between herself and Emily, letting her hands rest on Taylor's shoulders.

"Hi." Emily responded simply, not knowing what to say but trying her best not to act any weirder than usual.

Paige briefly glanced around, "Did our parents leave?" She asked, her eyes slightly squinting in curiosity.

"Oh right, umm they headed back to my parent's house. They want us and the girls to have dinner tonight since your parents are leaving tomorrow."

Paige let out a small sigh, not wanting to have to endure the awkward night that she figured was ahead of them, "Okay, Kace and Park were talking about going out with some of the girls for a little bit but I told them they had to run it by you first before they could go."

Emily nodded and as if on cue both Kacey and Parker exited the locker room and quickly made their way to Emily and Paige, "Did you ask her if we could go?" Kacey asked Paige who nodded.

"So can we?" Parker asked hopefully.

"You guys are supposed to be grounded remember?" Emily said giving both girls a stern look.

"I know but we just beat our rivals." Kacey argued, "Come on mama, please. Just for a little bit?"

Emily let out a sigh before looking over at Paige who shrugged, "an hour or so wouldn't hurt Em."

Emily nodded, "Okay but your grandparents are expecting all of us to be over at their house so you guys can only be out for a little while. About an hour like your mother said and then I'm expecting you two to be at your grandparents." Both girls nodded as they dumped their bags with their parents before heading back over to their team.

Emily and Taylor walked out and hopped into the car and drove off to her parent's house, Paige following behind them in her own car. Both women just hoping that they could put off whatever they had going on for tonight so the night wasn't a complete disaster, neither of them to hopeful of that actually happening, knowing how nosey both sets of their parents can be when it comes to stuff like this.

All of the girls from the swim team were all up for grabbing some food to take back to one of their houses to hang out but as usual everybody wanted something different. With not everyone deciding on the same thing to eat the team decided to split up to get a variety of things. Parker and McKenna volunteering to stop and pick up some food from the diner down the street while a few of the other girls picked up a pizza or two, the rest of the team opting to head back to one of the swimmers house to wait for the food.

McKenna hopped out of the front seat of her car, walking over to the passenger side to join Parker who was waiting on the side walk. Parker opened the diner door for McKenna and followed in behind her. The diner was a little busy but the line for food only had a few people remaining in it. While McKenna stepped into the line, Parker stopped to stand next to her, glancing around the diner casually while they waited in a comfortable silence. As her eyes glance around the room steadily she suddenly came to a halt and snapped her head back to do a double take when a flash of familiar blonde hair in the far back corner of the diner caught her eye.

Parker was met with a sight of arguably her favorite person wrapped up in the arms of some boy she had never seen in her life. Parker watched as the boy pulled the blonde's body closer to him and Parker was pretty sure something inside of her broke when the blonde didn't pull away but instead smiled up at the taller boy who slightly dipped his head to meet her lips. Parker swallowed hard and pulled her eyes away from the two teens on the other side of the diner.

With everything going on between her parents this week Parker couldn't stop the many emotions that rushed through her all at once that. The girl couldn't help but glance back over in the direction of Brooke and watch on as the girl stayed in the boys embrace as they joked around with their friends. Parker didn't know whether she was seeing red or if she was going to collapse onto the floor in a heap of tears. Instead she pulled her gaze away again and waited in the short line before it was their turn and she approached the counter with McKenna to order the food still doing her best to stay out of sight of the other girl and her group of friends. Doing what she could to ignore them, as hard as that was with their obnoxious voices booming through the already busy diner. Parker also tried to make sure McKenna didn't notice anything weird about the sudden shift in her mood, but luckily the food was done pretty fast and she ducked out of the diner unseen, returning to the car with McKenna who didn't seem to pick up on anything weird.

Parker pulled out her phone and shot a quick text to Brooke, asking her if she could meet up with her somewhere. Brooke responded almost immediately asking where she wanted to meet. Parker thought about somewhere they could go close to the swimmer's house they were going to be at and decided that the park a few blocks away was going to have to do. She told Brooke to meet her there in 10 minutes, earning an immediate reply of 'see you soon'.

McKenna parked on the side of the street in front of one of their teammates house and grabbed the bags of food they had stopped for before getting out and looking over at Parker who was leaning against the car, "You okay?" McKenna asked with a raised eyebrow.

Parker nodded and forced a quick smile, "Yeah I just got a text from someone saying they wanted to meet up." She lied, "Do you mind if I disappear for about 20 minutes?"

McKenna shook her head, returning a smile, "No go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Parker rushed out, "I know you're new and don't really know anyone yet. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anyth-"

"Parker." McKenna interrupted her laughing at the brunettes worry, "I'll be fine." She reassured Parker as her laughter died down.

Parker couldn't help but crack a real smile at the girl as she nodded her head, "Yeah, right you'll be fine. Sorry." She said shaking her head causing McKenna to let out another giggle.

"Go." She simply said, "And don't get yourself into any more trouble." She warned playfully as she pointed a finger at the swimmer across from her which surprised Parker. McKenna usually was much shyer than that and didn't usually return or engage in Parker's idea of playful banter, she usually just let Parker partake in it herself, laughing along.

Parker smirked a little as she nodded, "Save me a burger, yeah?"

McKenna nodded, "Sure."

Parker thanked her as she watched the other girl disappear up the walkway and into the house. She shook her head slightly but the smirk quickly fell from her face as she remembered she had to go talk to Brooke. She let out a heavy sigh as she started her walk down the street, repeatedly going over what she was going to say to the blonde when she showed up.

Parker made it to the park quickly and looked down at the clock on her phone, she had a couple of minutes before Brooke should show up so she walked over to a bench and sat down occupying herself with running over the outcomes that could come from the discussion she was about to confront Brooke with. She sighed again getting lost in thought, not even sure what she was doing anymore.

Parker sat on the bench for a few more minutes, her leg bouncing impatiently as she continued to wait for Brooke to show up. She glanced down at her phone again, growing frustrated when she realized that the other girl wasn't on time. Of course Brooke hardly ever was and usually Parker didn't mind, but the fact that she knew Brooke was probably still hanging all over that boy made her tardiness far less tolerable.

Parker slowly turned her head a few minutes later, glancing behind her when she finally heard someone's footsteps approaching her. She stood up when she saw it was Brooke and waited by the bench for the other girl to get to her.

"Hey." Brooke said with a smile as she walked towards the girl, "how'd the meet go?" She asked as she finally reached the girl.

"It was fine." Parker responded uninterested in the meet, the annoyance clear in her voice.

The smile on the blonde's face quickly dropped, "What's wrong?" Brooke asked, noticing the others girl's stoic expression immediately.

Brooke reached out to touch Parker but the brunette quickly dodged the form of comfort that Brooke was offering her, "You're late." Parker mumbled out as she turned away from the other girl.

Brooke let out a small laugh as she shook her head, "seriously? I'm late? That's what you're mad about?" She asked, "I'm always late, really it's not that big of a deal Parker, you never seemed to be bothered by it before." She reminded the swimmer with a teasing tone.

"Yeah well that was before I knew you were late because you were with some guy." Parker snapped as she turned back around to face Brooke.

The blonde was obviously surprised by Parker's statement, letting out a heavy sigh as she moved her gaze away from the girl across from her, causing Parker to let out a dry laugh, "yeah didn't know I knew about that one did you." She said shaking her head as she stuffed her hands in the front pockets of her jeans, waiting for Brooke to say something.

"I didn't do anything wrong Parker." Brooke stated with a shrug of her shoulders as she brought her eyes back up to meet Parkers, whose eyes narrowed back at the blonde in question, "We're not together." The blonde simply added.

Parker raised an eyebrow at the girl, "That's really what you're going to go with right now?" She replied angrily, only receiving a hesitant shrug in response from the blonde, "I'm really trying here Brooke." Parker said obviously frustrated.

Brooke stared back at her confused, "Trying to do what?"

"I don't know." Parker huffed out slightly defeated, "To do whatever this is." She explained as her voice rose as she gestured between herself and the blonde girl that she had somehow become so fond of, "but you're not!"

Brooke shook her head immediately arguing what the girl was suggesting, "nobody's making you do anything Parker." She told her as she tried to defend herself, "I told you that we weren't anything and-"

"Don't do that!" Parker yelled, cutting Brooke off.

"Do what?!" Brooke shouted back, her mind clouded now with just as much frustration as Parker had, "I told you that I wasn't interested in being your girlfriend Parker. What do you want me to say?!"

"Why can't you just admit that you like me Brooke?" Parker challenged stepping closer to the girl in front of her, "What's so wrong with that?!"

Brooke crossed her arms over her chest avoiding Parker's gaze as she pursed her lips together before letting out a frustrated sigh through her nostrils, "Look I don't know what you want from me. I told you I wasn't interested in being in a relationship when we started this thing-"

"When you started this thing." Parker interrupted, pointing her finger angrily at Brooke, "You're the one who kissed me in the first place Brooke."

"Parker would you stop yelling at me." Brooke exclaimed through gritted teeth.

"You're not even straight!" Parker yelled completely ignoring the other girls request for her to stop.

"Don't tell me what I am Parker." Brooke spat back.

Parker scoffed, "I'm not telling you what you are. I'm repeating what you told me you were, which is gay." Parker insisted, "Just because you don't want people to know you're gay doesn't mean you have to go around kissing boys Brooke, you have nothing to prove to anyone."

"I can do whatever I want to Parker!" Brooke shouted back not wanting to do this.

Parker dropped her hands to her side as she took in a sharp breath, turning away from Brooke. She sat back down on the bench and rested her elbows on her thighs, letting her head fall into her hands as she tried to calm her breathing. Brooke stood awkwardly a few steps away from Parker not really knowing what to say or do. Brooke slowly walked over to the bench and sat down next to Parker.

They awkwardly sat in complete silence for a few moments before Parker took one final deep breath from her spot on the bench and then lifted her head up to look over at Brooke who was a lot closer than she expected, "whatever this is, it's not what I thought it was." Parker admitted quietly as she looked into Brookes blue eyes for a moment before standing up slowly.

"So what does that mean?" Brooke asked, her voice just as small as Parker's had been, suddenly a lot more timid then she had been a few minutes prior. She forced her eyes up to meet Parker's, the brunette standing in front of her looking down at her.

Parker shrugged honestly not knowing what she was supposed to do, "I don't think this is working for me." She finally said rubbing at the back of her neck as she dropped her eyes down to the ground, kicking around the dirt under her foot nervously as she waited for Brooke's response.

Part of Parker just wanted the girl to agree so she didn't have to put up with any of this anymore but an even bigger part of her wanted the girl to say anything to convince her to stay so they could work something out. Parker however didn't have much time to get lost in her thoughts because Brooke almost immediately scoffed at Parkers words, which caused Parker to snap her gaze back to Brooke's.

"Is this about that new girl you've been hanging around lately?" Brooke spat out accusingly as she stood up off the bench, forcing Parker to stumble back slightly as the roles seemed to reverse. Brooke now the one who stood angrily in front of Parker with her eyes narrowed at the brunette.

Parker's eyes went wide in surprise, "what?"

"Is it?" Brooke asked again, any sort of hesitation or timid-ness completely disappearing from her.

"Are you kidding me?" Parker asked in disbelief before letting out a small laugh, "You're insane." Parker said as she turned and started walking off, but Brooke grabbed her wrist stopping her before she could get very far.

"She's been here for a week and you can't seem to get enough of her already." Brooke yelled, "I've seen you with her all over school."

Parker turned back to face Brooke pulling her arm harshly out of the blondes grip, "so what, she's new and doesn't know anyone, we're friends." Brooke just shook her head with a small smirk on her face, further irritating Parker, "This is crazy, I literally just caught you making out with a guy and you're mad that I'm hanging out with some girl on my swim team?" Parked asked in further disbelief.

"I've seen the way you are around her Parker, I'm not stupid." Brooke stated not backing down, "You like her."

"Well it's a good thing that you aren't interested in being my girlfriend and that we're not together then isn't it?" Parker retorted hoping to get something out of Brooke. Parker waited a moment for a response, simply shaking her head at Brooke when the other girl didn't say anything back to her. Parker stuffed her hands back into her pockets as she turned around and walked off, this time hoping Brooke would just let her go.

And as much as Brooke wanted to call out to the girl and stop her she resisted, instead letting her go like the other girl had silently hoped she would. She threw her head back and let out a long groan as she walked back over to the bench and sat down closing her eyes and trying to figure out why she just did that while Parker made her way down a couple of blocks, back to the house she had come from.

She knocked on the door, having to wait for a moment before one of the swimmers let her in. Parker made her way over to where most of the team was sitting at the dining room table eating, some of them scattered around the living room across the way already finished. Parker couldn't help the small smile that grazed her lips as she looked around at the team smiling and joking around with each other. The house was filled with laughter and loud voices, everyone trying to talk over one another as side conversations took place in multiple places. Parker couldn't help but feel happy that after such a crappy few days with everything that had been going on with her mom's and now Brooke, that she could just relax and have some fun for a little while. She walked over and squeezed into the chair by McKenna who looked at Parker guiltily.

"What?" Parker asked the smile falling from her lips, it being replaced with a look of cluelessness.

"I tried to stop them but I was out numbered." McKenna said, leading Parker into further confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Parker asked.

"You're right Park, that place does have the best burgers ever." Someone commented from across the table causing Parker's head to snap over at them as her jaw slacked open before her wide eyes shot back over to McKenna, "You gave away my burger?!"

McKenna grimaced while nodding, "Technically it was taken but yes." McKenna cringed before adding, "along with your fries too." Everyone else at the table let out obnoxious laughs as everyone continued to joke around and give Parker a hard time, offering her a slice of the left over pizza that everyone had already picked through.

"I should have never trusted you guys to not take advantage of newbie." Parker said shaking her head in disapproval, "You all are a bunch of savages." She added, crumbling up a napkin and throwing it at one of the girls who had claimed a piece of her burger. "And Kacey, my own sister." Parker stated, mocking hurt.

Kacey shrugged, "I figured if anyone had a right to your burger it was family. Plus they were going to eat it with or without me so, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em right?" She defended herself while shrugging a large smirk on her face.

Parker reached over and shoved the girls shoulder, "No."

Everyone continued to laugh and have a good time until Kacey came up behind Parker, who had found a new pace on the couch next to McKenna, "Hey Park I think we should get going, mom's going to be mad if we don't get to grandma and grandpas house soon." Parker nodded in agreement pushing herself up off the couch swiftly.

"Do you want a ride?" McKenna asked, quickly earning a head shake from Parker, signaling 'no'. "Please, I don't mind." McKenna offered again politely as she glanced around the room, "As fun as this is I was thinking about heading home anyways."

Parker sighed but accepted, picking up on the girls hinting that she wasn't fully comfortable with staying alone with everyone just yet. They all made their way out to McKenna's car and Parker gave her directions, guiding her to their grandparent's house until she pulled the car up to the curb behind Emily's car.

"Thanks." Kacey said before shooting out of the back seat and up into the house.

"Yeah thank you." Parker said still seated in the passenger seat.

McKenna nodded, "Are you okay?" She asked the brunette across from her whose face instantly scrunched up in confusion, "I just…I saw you looking at that girl in the diner."

Parker lowered her gaze to her lap as she nodded in understanding. She didn't think McKenna had picked up on it but clearly she was wrong, "I'm fine. Really." Parker said bringing her gaze back up to McKenna's, who bit her lip as her eyes roamed Parker's face, trying to decide whether she believed the girl or not. She eventually nodded her head, deciding not to push Parker.

"Thanks again for the ride though." Parker said as she climbed out of the car, ducking her head so she could still see McKenna once she exited the vehicle, "I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

McKenna nodded again, "Yeah. See you tomorrow morning."

Parker nodded and threw the girl a smile before closing the passenger door and walking up to the front door of the house. She looked over her shoulder once more when she got to the door, waving at the girl one last time as she drove off. Parker entered the house and was surprised by the lack of noise.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she walked deeper into the house, entering the dining room slowly to find everyone sat at the table, including Kacey, "Hey." Parker said awkwardly as she walked over and stood behind Taylor, due to the lack of enough seats for everyone, resting her hands on the back of the younger girl's chair.

"Hey honey did you have fun?" Emily asked with a small smile.

Parker let her eyes roam around the table, quickly studying everyone's faces and easily picking up on the uncomfortable air that appeared to settle over everyone, "Umm yeah, it was alright." Parker said rubbing the back of her neck, "How's dinner going?" She asked, her focus mainly on her two mothers.

"Great." Emily answered a little too fast and not very convincingly as she took a bite of the food in front of her before picking up her now empty plate and standing up from her seat, wordlessly heading towards the kitchen. Mostly everybody's eyes at the table followed Emily out of the room before returning to look at Paige, who continued to pick at the food on her plate until finally looking up when she felt the multiple sets of eyes staring at her.

"What?" She grumbled, not wanting the attention to be on her right now. Her parents, as well as Emily's had been trying to get something out of her and Emily all night and she was tired of it. All she wanted was to go to bed so she could be alone for a little bit. She couldn't take the looks of question and pity anymore tonight, they were starting to get to her. Paige let out a sigh and stood up when nobody said anything to her, picking up her plate and following in the same direction that Emily had gone in moments ago.

As soon as she got out of the room all eyes began to dance between Kacey and Parker, "What?" Both girls asked, nearly simultaneously as they tried to avoid the eyes looking at them in question.

"What's going on between them?" Nick asked sternly.

Parker shrugged before looking down at Taylor, who was still seated below her, lightly running her hand through her sister's hair, ignoring the question from her grandpa as best as she could.

"I don't really think mom wants anybody to know." Kacey said shyly as she too avoided eye contact with people in the room.

"Let's just be happy they aren't killing each other in there." Parker grumbled out in annoyance as she plopped down in Paige's now vacant seat.

"Considering your mother showed up here late last night we figured it might be serious." Pam stated hesitantly, earning more shrugs from the older two of the McCullers children. Pam nodded, dropping the subject, it being pretty clear that nobody was going to say anything and instead of prying she decided to change the subject to the girls meet. Emily and Paige's parents sat and enjoyed their time with their daughter's family, happy that with Emily and Paige out of the room, the awkward tension had quickly disappeared from the dinner table.

Emily dropped her plate in the sink harshly when she entered the kitchen and let out a shaky breath as she leaned her weight against the counter, slightly dropping her head. It wasn't long before she heard someone clear their throat causing her to shoot her head up and straighten her stance.

"Oh umm sorry." Emily said as she turned to find Paige standing awkwardly behind her holding her plate. Emily stepped aside and allowed Paige to set her plate in the sink before she turned to face Emily with a sigh of her own.

"Look I'm sorry about leaving last night." Paige said as she dipped her head slightly to the side, "I shouldn't have done that." She admitted, "I just needed to get away for a little and I wasn't thinking about the kids or anything."

Emily nodded along slowly as Paige spoke to her, "It's okay." Emily reassured, "Parker and Kacey already knew what was going on. I mean they were obviously a little concerned when I told them you left but I tried to reassure them everything was fine. As for Taylor, I just told her you had to leave early for work so you're fine."

Paige ran her fingers through her hair as she shuffled around on her feet uncomfortably, "I should probably sleep at home tonight. I don't want the girls to freak out over this. I feel terrible for making them worry."

"You're going to come home?" Emily asked hopefully, happy that maybe they'd get a chance to work things out tonight.

Paige nodded but quickly shot a stern look at Emily, "But that doesn't mean that I forgive you for what you did. I'm still pissed at you Emily." Paige said her voice raising slightly above her normal tone.

Emily nodded in understanding, not knowing what else to do. She bit her lip as she avoided looking back at Paige, she couldn't help but feel small when Paige's tone was above anything than her normal tone. Paige wordlessly walked out of the kitchen to return to the dining room, glad that the tension appeared to be gone as Taylor talked animatedly from her seat, a smile spread across everyone else's faces as they watched her.

Emily returned to the room shortly after and glanced around, not being able to hold back the slight smile that spread onto her own face as she witnessed the same scene that Paige had walked in on. "Alright as much fun as you all seem to be having, I think we better head home." Emily suggested.

The kids quickly nodded in agreeance and jumped out of their seats to say their goodbyes to their grandparents, while Paige and Emily did the same. It didn't take them very long to get home. As soon as they walked through the door Kacey rushed off upstairs to shower. Parker stopped and told her parents that she'd get Taylor ready for bed so Paige and Emily could talk if they wanted to. The young brunette picked up Taylor and headed upstairs earning a quick 'thank you' from both of her parents.

"So I guess I'll just take the couch." Paige stated as she gestured over to the old couch.

"Come on Paige, you don't have to do that." Emily said not wanting to sleep apart, "The bed is plenty big, we both can just stay on our own sides if you want."

Paige shook her head, "You don't get it Emily." She stated in frustration, "I just don't want to be around you right now."

Emily couldn't hold back the look of hurt that flashed across her face instantly. She quickly did her best to wipe the pathetic look away from her face as she nodded still trying to be understanding, "Okay well then I'll take the couch." She offered, "I mean this is my fault anyways. Plus you have to work and everything so you need to get sleep and we both know you aren't going to get it on the couch."

Paige shook her head instantly, "No. I'll be fine, it's not that bad of a couch."

Emily narrowed her eyes at Paige, "Don't be stubborn, just let me do it. You don't have to worry about me it's not a big deal."

Paige simply ignored the woman's request, shooting her another 'no' as she walked past her wife and made her way upstairs without another word.

Emily let out a sigh of frustration as she ran her fingers through her hair. She was hoping that Paige would be a little more willing to talk things out now that she had had a little bit of time to herself the night before and all day today but that clearly wasn't the case. Emily couldn't do anything but give Paige the space she was in need of, so instead of following the brunette upstairs, she sat down on the couch and turned on the tv, waiting for Paige to come down before she went upstairs herself to get ready for bed.


	26. Chapter 26

**I know, I know, it took me forever and a day to update but I always take forever so you guys should be used to waiting on me by now. However I still always feel bad for taking a long time so as usual, sorry.**

 **As always feel free to let me know what you think, whatever that may be, it's always fun to hear your thoughts on things. Last chapter I got a lot of reviews and I loved it so thank you to everyone who took the time to do that. Also sorry to the Guest people who I can't respond to, I obviously read them and appreciate them a lot even though I can't express that to you personally. Anyways I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter :)**

Paige's eyes fluttered open slowly and a groan instantly left her lips as she forced her body up into a sitting position. She swung her feet out from under her and let them fall over the edge of the couch to rest on the floor as she let her elbows rest on her thighs and rubbed at her face in order to wake herself up a little. She had once again tossed and turned on the couch all night, at this point feeling like she just wasn't sleeping at all.

"It's been a week." Someone called out, "How much longer are you going to torture yourself on that couch?"

Paige turned her head to look behind her, when she didn't see anyone but heard noise coming from the kitchen she lifted herself up off of the couch and walked in the direction of the voice, her joints popping with just about every step she took. Paige entered the kitchen and hopped up on the kitchen counter, "The couch isn't that bad." Paige responded with a shrug.

Parker stopped what she was doing to give Paige an unconvinced look before shaking her head as she laughed in disbelief, "Whatever you say mom." The younger brunette said knowing that Paige would never admit that she hated sleeping on the couch, she was far too stubborn for that. "So how long is this going to go on for?" Parker asked hesitantly, feeling like she had to walk on eggshells.

Paige looked at Parker who was leaning on the counter across from her and sighed at the worried look plastered on her daughter's face, "Don't worry about it Park okay. Your mom and I will figure it out."

"Come on mom, you two are barely even talking to each other." Parker pointed out as she crossed her arms across her chest, letting Paige know that her giving Emily the cold shoulder hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone, "Plus you know what today is." Parker said giving Paige a knowing look.

Paige dropped her gaze to the floor, letting out a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair about to respond but before she could say anything Emily entered the kitchen slowly, drawing the attention of both brunettes immediately.

"Morning." Parker said with a large grin directed at Emily before she looked over at Paige giving her another stern look before moving her eyes over to Emily briefly before moving them back to Paige to indicate that now was the perfect time for them to work it out.

"Well," Parker said as she clasped her hands together loudly, drawing all the attention to herself, "I think I'm gonna go for a run," She stated as she made her way out of the kitchen, "You two have fun." She said playfully, trying to lift the tension before disappearing from her parents view.

Emily's eyes followed Parker out of the room in confusion before she turned back to Paige with a raised eyebrow, "What were you guys talking about?" Emily asked hesitantly as she walked over to the coffee maker which had already started running.

Paige shrugged before realizing that Emily's back was to her and that her wife wasn't able to see her, "Umm Parker was just making sure I knew what today was." Paige stated lowly as she slid off of the countertop and leaned her back against the counter instead.

"Ah." Emily dragged out as she grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured her morning coffee before turning to face Paige, "And?"

Paige looked at Emily not sure what she meant by that, "And, what?"

"And, are we going to do anything?" Emily asked taking a sip of her coffee as she waited for a response, but when none came she quickly jumped in, "I mean we don't have to, it's fine. I'm sure you're in no mood to celebrate our anniversary." Emily said trying not to make the situation weirder than it already was, "Not that that's your fault or anything, I understand." She continued to rant not wanting to come off as mad or irritated even though she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that Paige had been avoiding her as much as possible for the last week.

Paige couldn't help but feel bad about being in this place in their relationship on the day of their anniversary. Paige let her mind wander to what this day usually went like and the thought of how happy they usually were broke her heart a little more than it already was. She didn't have much time however to get lost in the memories before Emily's voice brought her back to reality.

"Alright then, I guess that answers that." Emily mumbled as she turned away from Paige and set her cup on the countertop before starting to move around the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone.

"No, I don't want to do nothing and just pretend that today isn't our anniversary." Paige admitted although she wasn't sure how things were going to go but maybe Parker was right and it was time to at least try to sort a few things out with Emily, "Maybe we could grab some dinner tonight." Paige suggested, "Just me and you?"

Emily let a huge grin cross her face at Paige's offer and immediately nodded her head in agreeance, "I would really like that." She said, glancing over her shoulder at Paige.

Paige nodded, letting a small smile graze her own lips at the sight of Emily's genuine excitement, although she could tell that the other woman was trying to conceal it to the best of her ability. Paige knew that it was because Emily was trying to give her the space she asked for and was doing her best to not pressure Paige into forgiving her, instead letting her figure things out at her own pace. And while Paige was happy that Emily was respecting her space, it hurt Paige slightly to know that she was forcing Emily to do that for her.

Paige was happy when she heard a door upstairs open and footsteps coming down the stairs. During the last few days, the tension in the air had been nearly unbearable when it was just her and Emily in a room alone and she was sure neither of them liked it. She turned just in time to see Kacey shuffle her way to the kitchen table and drop down in one of the chairs. Paige laughed when the girl simply dropped her head down to the table and let out a yawn.

"Morning sunshine." Paige said with a wide smile as she moved to take a seat in the chair directly across from the messy haired girl. Kacey brought her head up just enough to see Paige, originally intending to throw an irritated response at her teasing mother but instead the girl instantly perked up when she saw Emily standing in the kitchen behind Paige with a small smile of her own.

"Good morning to you as well." Kacey stated, suddenly much more awake then she had been as she smirked and sat up straight in her chair, eyes flashing back and forth between her parents, "to both of you." She added in surprise.

Paige rolled her eyes and Emily let out a small giggle as she turned her attention back to breakfast on the stove. And although Paige mocked annoyance she couldn't help but wonder if things between her and Emily had really been that obviously bad, to the point where them even being in the same room had surprised Kacey as much as it did.

"Where's Taylor, she has to be up by now?" Emily questioned as she set a plate of food down in front of Kacey.

"Oh she is. Who do you think dragged me out of bed, it certainly wasn't something I did by my own will." Kacey murmured, "Last I saw her, I think she was getting ready for her soccer game."

Emily shook her head, "We don't even have to leave for another two hours."

"Well the kids enthusiastic." Kacey said through a mouthful of food, "and has far too much energy in the morning."

Emily and Paige both laughed knowing that the girl was completely right, but their laughing was cut short when a soccer ball came rocketing from the top of the stairs and across the kitchen, pin balling off of multiple things before coming to a stop by Emily's feet.

When Emily looked up from the ball at her feet she was met with a frozen Taylor holding on to the railings at the bottom of the stairs with wide eyes, "Sorry." She mumbled out timidly as she walked over to Paige and climbed up into her lap with a sweet smile.

Paige greeted the little girl with a kiss on the cheek as Emily shook her head and bent down to pick up the ball, "What did I tell you about kicking the ball in the house Taylor." She stated sternly.

"Not to?" Taylor responded cautiously as she tilted her head back, looking up at Paige for confirmation with a small unsure pout.

Paige nodded her head, giving the girl a sad look before bringing her hands up to squeeze both sides of the little girl's cheek, "Aww look at that little face." Paige said directing her attention back to Emily with a small pout of her own.

Emily shook her head at her wife's antics, "Yeah let's see how cute you think it is when she breaks something expensive and you have to replace it."

Kacey laughed as Paige's face dropped slightly before looking down at Taylor, "Sorry munchkin I think she got me on that one." She said as she lifted her so she could stand up before dropping the girl back into the chair she had just gotten out of.

"No more ball kicking in the house." Taylor promised, "Got it." She said holding out her fist to Paige, who connected her own fist to the little girls, smiling down at her before ruffling the girl's messy hair.

"See all under control." She said to Emily who just rolled her eyes as she moved past Paige to drop another plate down in front of Taylor.

"Do you want something to eat?" Emily asked as she moved back into the kitchen and started putting food on another plate.

Paige shook her head, "No thanks, I think I'm going to hit the shower real quick but maybe when I get out." She said shrugging before heading upstairs.

Emily sat down next to Taylor and started eating. It didn't take long until she felt a pair of eyes expectantly burning holes into the top of her head so she reluctantly looked up and was met with a smirking Kacey, "Yes Kacey?" Emily asked.

Kacey simply shrugged smugly, "I think that's the most you guys have interacted all week." She suggested, "It's just nice, that's all."

"She just needs a little time to come around." Emily said, trying to reassure everyone, including herself.

"Does that mean you and mom are going to spend a little alone time today?" Kacey asked hopefully.

"Yes, she said we could go to dinner tonight. Just the two of us." Emily said, again not being able to hold back the expression of pure joy that appeared on her face at the thought of her and Paige finally getting some time together.

Kacey grinned back at Emily as she wiggled her eyebrows, "Just the two of you huh?"

A giggle slipped from Emily's lip as she shook her head, "Alright, alright. That's enough Kacey." She said still grinning at the girl across the table, who was more than amused with herself, "Since you seem to be so interested, I'll be sure to give you a play by play the next time your mother and I get a little bit of adult alone time."

Kacey froze mid bite, a horrified look crossing her face, "Please don't. I want you guys to make up but I'd rather not be traumatized by the details of your adult reunion." She made clear, "I've seen well more than you then I ever wanted or needed to already in my life time."

Emily laughed, although she was still embarrassed that her oldest kids had indeed once walked in on her and Paige, "Relax honey, there will be no adult activity going on tonight. I'm just happy she has agreed to finally talk about it all, I don't think I'm going to try to push my luck." Emily admitted, earning a sad smile from Kacey as she nodded her head in understanding, "Let's hope it goes well and we can put this behind us."

"I'm sure you guys will work it out." Kacey said as she eyed Emily, looking for any signs that her mother believed that as well. When Emily simply continued eating her breakfast not really minding to Kacey's comment, the young girl couldn't help but grow a little nervous, "You guys will work this out right?" She asked hesitantly as she pushed the last bit of food around on her plate, not sure if she was ready to face the reality of the slight chance her parents wouldn't be able to move past this.

Emily met her daughter's concerned stare and gave her a reassuring smile, "Yeah, I think we will." Emily said, but it was clear Kacey wasn't fully convinced. Emily let out a small sigh not sure what more she could say, "Don't worry about it Kace, okay? We'll work it out. We always do."

Kacey nodded as she moved her eyes away from Emily and down to Taylor who was quietly listening in on their conversation as she slowly ate the food from her own plate. Kacey new that Taylor was well aware that something had been different in the house the last week between Emily and Paige, but had for the most part kept quiet over the whole thing. The only exception being the few question she asked Kacey and Parker about Paige sleeping on the couch and the occasional question of why they weren't together as much as they usually were.

Kacey smiled at her little sister as she stood up with her plate, "You want to go kick your ball around outside before we have to go to your game?" She asked knowing that it would keep the young girl distracted from everything going on with Paige and Emily. While the youngest McCullers didn't know much about what was going on, she wasn't stupid and it was clear that she was worried about the odd behavior from her mothers.

A wide toothy smile instantly spread across Taylor's face as she nodded her head rapidly, "Yeah!"

Kacey laughed as she walked over to drop her plate in the sink, "Alright let me just go get dressed and I'll meet you outside." She said as she jogged out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Taylor went to get out of her seat but Emily grabbed the girl's shoulder stopping her, "Uh uh, finish eating before you go please."

Taylor quickly complied and started shoving food in her mouth as fast as physically possible causing Emily to shake her head in disapproval, "Slow down baby." She said worried that the little girl was going to surely choke at that pace, "I'm sure it'll take Kacey longer than you want to get dressed." She informed the girl who had barely slowed down at all.

"All done." Taylor stated loudly with a mouthful of food, "Can I go?" She asked, waiting for Emily's permission. Emily simply nodded her head and watched the little girl dart out back to grab her ball excitedly and start kicking it around the back yard as she waited for Kacey.

 **[][][][][][]**

Parker had ran most of her usual route through town and was starting to jog her way back towards her house when she spotted McKenna sitting at a table outside one of the cafes that lined the streets. Parker let a small smirk graze her lips as she slowed her run down to a walk, yanking her headphones out of her ears as she approached the girl, coming up behind her slowly.

"Hey!" Parker greeted loudly as she simultaneously grabbed McKenna's shoulders aggressively in attempt to startle the girl.

"Jesus!" McKenna exclaimed as she turned her head sharply to face the brunette who had startled her, "Why?" McKenna asked irritated, although a smile was evident on her lips, and Parker couldn't help but let out a laugh as she let go of the girl's shoulders and moved out from behind her, walking to stand by the side of the table in front of McKenna.

"Sorry I couldn't help myself." Parker admitted as McKenna shook her head, "What are you up to?" Parker asked as she observed the binder and loose papers surrounding the other girl.

McKenna let out a sigh as she gestured to the paper in front of her, "Just trying to finish up some work before I head over to the school."

Parker looked at the girl somewhat perplexed, "You are aware it's Saturday right?" Parker asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

McKenna giggled, "Yes Parker I am aware it is Saturday." She said nodding her head.

"Sooooo?" Parker dragged out, needing more clarification.

McKenna rolled her eyes playfully, "You do know there are such things as clubs and committees that meet up on the weekend's right?" She asked amused by the swimmers bewilderment.

"Wait a minute." Parker said waving her hands in front of her to stop the other girl, "You're telling me people join clubs on purpose, knowing beforehand that they are going to have to do extra homework AND go to school on Saturday?" Parker asked, earning a nod in response from McKenna, "I don't believe you." Parker said blatantly as she shook her head before she grabbed the piece of paper from in front of McKenna and started scanning over it.

"Parker you are literally part of a club that meets on the weekends sometimes." McKenna reminded the athlete.

Parker lifted her eyes from the paper to meet McKenna's eyes slightly offended, "Swim is not a club newbie. It's a lifestyle." Parker stated before she moved her eyes back to the paper, "I have no idea what any of this means." Parker admitted after a moment as she continued to eye the paper in her hands.

McKenna laughed at the brunette whose face was scrunched up in confusion, "Well considering how bad you are at math I wouldn't expect you to." She said snatching the paper back from Parker, who mocked offense.

"Hey I'm…getting better." Parker said in defense before scrunching up her face again in thought, "kind of." She added.

McKenna gave the other girl a tight lipped smile before making a slightly cringed facial expression and shaking her head in disagreement, "Sorry Parker but you're absolutely terrible."

"Yeah, fine I'm terrible." Parker admitted with a small laugh, "Please tell me this meeting you have at school with a club isn't a math one."

"My math teacher thinks it's a good fit for me. Plus I get extra credit for being in the club, so." McKenna simply stated with a shrug.

"I'm sure you don't need extra credit newbie, you're like a genius or something." Parker reminded her, "I honestly have no idea how you keep up with all this stuff." She added, genuinely impressed with the green eyed girl.

"First I'm not a genius, I just study and pay attention unlike other people." McKenna said causing Parker to roll her eyes knowing the girls first point was directed at her, "Secondly, you're the one who told me I should join a club so I can meet new people, remember? This was all your idea."

"Yeah but that was like the second day you were here, before I was your friend. "Parker whined, "I changed my mind now, I don't want to share you with anyone else."

McKenna smiled at Parker's slight pout, "I'm joining the math club Parker." She said as she started to gather the papers around her and pack them away into her binder before standing up from the table and gently pushing the chair into the table and facing Parker.

"Fine but don't forget who your first friend here was." Parker said with a smirk and a quick wink.

McKenna dropped her gaze down to the ground as she slightly shook her head as a large grin formed on her face and heat crept up her cheeks. She did her best to contain it all before looking back up at Parker who was still smirking at her, "Of course not."

Parker nodded, satisfied as a comfortable silence fell over the two. "Hey what are you doing after your meeting?" Parker asked after a few moments.

McKenna shrugged, "Probably nothing."

"Want to come over for a little while and hang out tonight?" Parker offered hopefully as she bit her lip in anticipation.

McKenna nodded timidly, "Yeah, sure. That sounds fun." She said with a smile as she looked up at the brunette.

Parker nodded her head repeatedly, biting down on her lip a little harder in attempt to contain the dopy smile she knew would appear on her face if she didn't, "Cool, cool. I'll text you later then."

"Okay, see you later." McKenna said, earning another nod from Parker as she put her earbuds back into place and turned to finish her run, jogging off in the direction of her house. McKenna's eyes followed Parker, an evident smile plastered on her face as she watched the toned girl disappear around the corner.

She immediately let out a small groan as she let her head drop back. With Parker's usual playful and teasing attitude she could never tell if the other girl liked her or if it was just in her nature to be like that. McKenna had always been bad with this kind of thing. She wasn't good at reading signs and she over thought things far too much, but she was starting to find herself forming a crush on her only friend here and she wasn't sure how to feel about it yet.

What she did know was that being forced to always see Parker working out with a thin layer of sweat covering her toned body or the girl's toned body dripping wet with water when they were at practice wasn't helping her push her newly found feelings away. At first she had thought it was simply an attraction but spending just about every day at school with Parker and training together sometimes after school was giving her time to know the girl and she knew that at this point it was far beyond just an attraction.

She let out another sigh before turning around to head towards the school but when she turned she immediately hit another body, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." McKenna shot out immediately as she bent down to pick up the binder that she had dropped.

"It's fine." The other person said quickly in response although it was clear in her voice that she was slightly annoyed.

When McKenna stood back up she was met with narrowed eyes that were studying her face. She quickly became uncomfortable under the gaze of the other girl, finding it intimidating. She quickly averted her eyes down to her feet as she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind one of her ears shyly.

"McKenna right?" The other girl said pretty confidently. McKenna was surprised to hear her name but she looked up anyways to meet the girl's eyes once again, as she nodded in confirmation. "I've seen you around school." The girl explained, noticing the confused look on McKenna's face.

"Oh cool." McKenna responded quietly, not sure what else to say. "Well, sorry again." She said awkwardly, referring to running into the girl, as she shifted to walk around the girl, but before she could the other girl grabbed her arm stopping her.

"Wait, you're friends with McCullers right? Parker?" She asked and McKenna couldn't help the small upward tug on her lips just at the mention of her friends name as she nodded, "Are you guys like a thing?" The other girl questioned with narrowed eyes.

McKenna immediately shook her head, "No, no, no. We're just friends." She rushed out. She was shocked that someone would even ask her about that. Of course her and Parker had been hanging out just about every day since she got here but she couldn't remember them doing anything that would make others think that they were actually together.

The girl in front of her smiled as she nodded, "Good." When McKenna's eyebrows furrowed in confusion the other girl shook her head as she brought up her hand and place it over her own heart in sympathy, "It's just that you seem like a nice girl and I don't know if Parker is the right fit for you."

"What do you mean?" McKenna asked not understanding what that was supposed to mean, but suddenly she was a lot more interested in what this girl had to say.

The other girl shot her a sad smile as she reached out and squeezed her upper arm in comfort, "Just be careful okay? She's trouble. I'm just giving you a fair warning, that's all." She said before letting go of McKenna and walking off with a small smirk.

McKenna watched her in complete confusion. She didn't understand what that was about or what the girl was trying to warn her about when it came to Parker. McKenna simply shook her head and rushed off towards the school not wanting to be late, but she couldn't seem to get the conversation with that girl out of her head. What if she was right and Parker was bad news? She didn't want to be involved with any trouble. But she had become good friends with Parker over the short time she had known her and nothing between them had ever felt anything but genuine. She didn't know how to handle this or what she should do about it but whatever that girl was talking about when it came to Parker, made her extremely warry about her growing crush on the swimmer and she couldn't help but think that maybe it would be best if she just stayed away from the other girl for a little while.

 **[][][][][][]**

Once Parker returned home she quickly showered and got ready to leave the house once again to go to Taylor's soccer game, which is where the family spent the most of the day. Emily couldn't help but grow more and more nervous about tonight as the day went on, due to the lack of interaction between her and Paige. As much as she hoped today would be different from the last week, Paige was still standoffish and only interacted in conversation with her when their two oldest daughters practically forced her into it.

Emily was grateful when the game ended and Taylor came running over to join them, easily cutting the tension away with an excited smile, "Mama look." The girl exclaimed in excitement as she lifted her leg up as high as she could, showing off a small, bloodied cut to her knee.

Emily shook her head at the excitement the small scrape stirred within the little girl, "We'll clean it up when we get home okay."

"Do you think it'll leave a scar?" Taylor asked hopefully as she smiled down at it absentmindedly.

"I think you need a bigger cut than that one Tay." Parker said, letting her arm drape around her little sister, "but don't you worry kid, I'll teach you how to get a gnarly scar." She said with a wink.

"Please don't." Paige said with a small chuckle as they approached the car, Emily nodding in agreement.

"Fine, I won't do anything." She said as she climbed into the back of the SUV behind Taylor.

"Why don't I believe you?" Paige said teasingly, "I mean we are leaving you in charge of her while we go out tonight and now I'm worried." She said, letting out a small chuckle.

Parker scoffed instantly, "I've been left in charge a million times and she's still alive, so I'd say my track record is pretty good."

"If your standard for good is simply alive then I'm worried too." Emily said, entering the conversation.

All 5 people in the car were thankful for the lighthearted conversation taking place on the way home, it helped to ignore the real issues that had presented themselves in the last week. It was becoming exhausting for Paige and Emily to go on trying to avoid each other and it was becoming just as exhausting for their three children to keep up with the moodiness of their parents, tiptoeing around them to avoid any further fights.

However the small moment of lightheartedness was over as they pulled into the driveway and returned to the reality of the situation they all were in. And the time between then and the time Emily and Paige were getting ready to leave did not come quickly. It was spent with Emily and Paige separated on opposite ends of the house. This made both women extremely nervous for dinner as the time to leave approached.

"Alright we're heading out." Paige said as she came into the living room, drawing the attention of all three kids who were in the living room.

Parker squinted her eyes at Paige who was way more dressed down than she thought she'd be, "You're wearing that?" The brunette asked surprised.

Paige looked down at the faded blue jeans she had on, paired with a fitted white V-neck shirt, "Yeah, what's wrong with it?" She asked.

"Geez mom you could've at least tried a little bit." Kacey stated as she eyed Paige, "Where are you taking her?"

"I was just going to take her down to that diner she likes." Paige informed them.

Parker laughed, "It's your anniversary, not a high school date mom." She joked causing Kacey to laugh along with her.

Paige didn't have time to respond as Emily emerged from upstairs, "See now that's an appropriate outfit." Kacey exclaimed as she pointed over to Emily who was wearing a fitted black dress that cut off about mid-thigh.

Emily looked at Kacey curiously before her eyes landed on Paige. Emily's eyes trailed down Paige's body before she brought her gaze back up to meet Paige's, "I thought you said you were ready?"

"I am." Paige said, just now realizing that she had never told Emily where they were going and it was clear Emily thought they'd be attending somewhere a little more upscale than a diner but Paige had no interest in going out to some fancy restaurant tonight, incase things went bad.

"Oh." Emily said slightly defeated and it was clear she was disappointed, "Umm okay should I go put something else on?" She asked not sure what to do.

Paige shook her head, "You don't have to." She said as she brought her hand up to rub at the back of her neck, "You look beautiful. We can make it work." Paige said deciding that she could compromise and go to a place between a fancy restaurant and a diner, "Let me just grab a jacket." She stated moving upstairs quickly and throwing on a black leather jacket to make the outfit look a little nicer before retuning downstairs.

Emily smiled kindly at her, "Ready?"

Paige nodded before turning to the kids still watching them from the living room, "You sure you guys will be alright?" She asked earning nods from everyone, "You guys know the rules while we're ou-"

"Yes mom we know." Parker said, "Mama already reminded us of everything while you were upstairs."

"Right." Paige murmured out, "Oaky then we'll be back later. Love you guys." She said earning a chorus of 'love you toos' muttered in her and Emily's direction.

Paige and Emily walked out of the house and to the car, climbing in. The tension quickly filled the silent car and the drive to the restaurant was, to say the least, uncomfortable. Paige was struck with the reality that she couldn't avoid Emily any longer and that there were no kids to run interference if things went bad. Emily was faced with the same reality and it was clear that the night wasn't off to the best start but she was determined to get herself and Paige's relationship back to at least a tolerable place by the end of the night.

The ride to the restaurant wasn't too long and they were both thankful for that. They entered the restaurant and the place wasn't very busy at all which again made Paige feel a little relief that they wouldn't have to wait long to be seated or served for that mattered.

The hostess led Emily and Paige to their table, where they both slipped into their spots at the booth, sitting across from each other. Both women thanked the host as she set their menus down in front of them and told them their waiter would be with them shortly. As the host walked away from the table, leaving them alone, Emily looked over at Paige who already had her menu open and her full attention on it.

Emily let her eyes linger on Paige a little longer but when the woman across from her remained focused on the menu in front of her with no signs of removing it, Emily opened up the menu that sat in front of her and tried her best to be patient with her wife. However it was getting harder every day for her, especially now when Emily was well aware of the fact that Paige could most likely recite the menu, that she was suddenly so interested in, by heart considering how many times they had been to this restaurant over the years.

They had been sitting in silence for the entire night thus far. The waiter had already been here to take their drink orders and bring them out. And as hard as she tried not to, Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes when he had come back to take their orders and Paige had, just like Emily expected her to, ordered the same exact thing she does every time they come here despite the fact that Paige had done nothing but sit in silence and read the menu since the moment they had been seated.

Emily was happy when the waiter picked the menus up from the table and walked away with them, leaving Paige with little other option but to actually pay some attention to her. When Paige simply interlocked her fingers together on top of the table in front of her and began to let her eyes casually roam around the room, Emily's patience began to run low. Nobody had said a word by the time the food came out to their table and they continued to eat in silence. They each had made it half way through their meal before Emily couldn't take it anymore and slightly snapped at her wife.

"Seriously? This is ridiculous." Emily stated frustrated, dropping her fork down onto the plate in front of her and running her fingers through her hair, gaining Paige's attention for what seemed like the first time tonight, "If this is what the night's going to be like then I'd rather just have stayed at home." Emily admitted.

Paige fumbled around with her food for a moment before straightening up in her seat and looking across the table at the woman she had been doing her best to avoid, "I'm sorry okay?" She said sincerely, "I'm trying, I just…I don't know what to say to you." She admitted sadly as she rubbed the back of her neck and let her eyes drift away from Emily's face.

Emily let out a heavy sigh, "Well you're going to have to say something to me eventually Paige. We're married and have kids, you can't exactly avoid me these days, no matter how much you want to."

"Yeah well you didn't exactly seem to have our marriage or our kids in mind when you were out having your late nights with Rachel." Paige mumbled, not necessarily intending to but sounding harsh.

Emily shook her head slightly as she averted her eyes from her wife to hide the hurt that Paige's comment inflicted on her, "Is that really what we're going to do tonight?" She asked, bringing her eyes back up to meet Paige's, "You keep throwing Rachel in my face every chance you get and I know you're angry but it just doesn't make it seem like you're really trying to get past it."

"I don't mean to throw it in your face." Paige said honestly. She wanted to get past this as much as Emily, but it was proving to be harder than she thought it would for her to do that and just let it go, "I'm trying, but I can't get her out of my head." Paige admitted, "I just..." She paused momentarily, letting out a small groan of frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I can't stop picturing you with her no matter what I do. I don't know how to and it's getting to me Emily."

"I know it's hard but I don't know what else I can do for you." Emily said, pausing to gain her composure really not wanting to break down in the middle of a restaurant, "I don't know how to make this right." She stated in almost a whisper.

"I don't think you can." Paige said, instantly deflating Emily's hope that they could figure this out tonight and start working to get past it, "I think I have to sort this one out with myself Em." Paige suggested shakily as she adjusted her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands, fighting the same battle as Emily was to keep it together.

Emily reached over the table and grabbed Paige's wrist softly pulling it away from her face, forcing Paige to look at her, "Come on Paige, talk to me." Emily pleaded softly as she ran her fingers down Paige's wrist and intertwined their fingers loosely.

Paige let her eyes linger on their somewhat intertwined hands as Emily played with her fingers gently and Paige could easily tell that Emily was waiting for her to pull away from her touch by the way Emily seemed to tense as soon as their hands connected, but Paige had no intention of letting go.

"You know how I've always felt Emily." Paige said quietly, but Emily just looked at her curiously urging Paige to elaborate. Paige let out a small sigh, "I don't know, you've just always been you and I'm just me. You know how I felt about us when we first got together, it just didn't seem right." Paige shook her head at the way that sounded before trying to correct herself, "I mean not in a way that I didn't feel like we were good together because we were, clearly we've always been, it just didn't feel right in the sense that I couldn't figure out why a girl like you would waste their time on someone like me."

Emily tried to interrupt her wife but Paige stopped her before continuing, "I wasn't in the best place back then, as you know. I didn't have a whole lot of confidence when it came to myself so I second guessed myself a lot and not only myself but I second guessed other people and their intentions with me. And we definitely had our problems back then, don't get me wrong," Paige said with a slight chuckle, not wanting the conversation to get to heavy, "but we always seemed to work it out and I started to feel more confident, like maybe I did deserve someone as good as you."

"Paige you should have never doubted yourself." Emily stated reassuringly as she tightened her grip on Paige's hand, feeling more confident now that Paige hadn't pulled away from her like she had expected her to, "I think it's safe to say now that if anything I don't deserve someone as good as you." She said honestly, "Even back then."

Paige nodded slightly and they fell into a silence, worrying Emily that that was all she was going to get out of the other woman, but it wasn't very long before Paige broke the short lived silence.

"It's just that when we got married and had the kids I never had been so happy Em." Paige admitted, "And even now when I'm sleeping on the couch and am completely miserable, I can't help but still feel lucky for everything that we've had together."

Emily simply nodded, understanding exactly what her wife meant, "I'm so sorry I did what I did Paige." Reaching up with her free hand to wipe her eyes as a tear slipped out, "I never meant to jeopardize anything that we had together."

Paige nodded slowly, "I know you are and I know you didn't. But when these things happen I can't help but go back to my high school, insecure self." She admitted as she brought her free hand to rub at her own face as she tried to find the right words to explain it all, "I hate that I do that and I know it sounds stupid but it makes me feeling like I wasn't enough for you kind of validated in my head."

Emily shook her head, "How you feel isn't stupid Paige. And it wasn't you at all."

Paige raised her eyebrow, not understanding, "What wasn't me?"

"This whole thing with Rachel, it wasn't because you weren't enough for me." Emily stated, "It was just the stress from everything else going on in our lives. We weren't spending much time together because we were both running around trying to keep up with our own things and the kids and I don't know, I was stressed out and looking for something to hold onto for a moment. I was so stressed out and I knew you were feeling the same way and I just needed a little comfort."

Paige nodded along as she listened to Emily as she went on, "But Rachel didn't give me that. I didn't even mean to kiss her. The thought never even crossed my mind until it actually happened. That's why I pulled away Paige, I didn't want that. I wanted you, I just wasn't feeling like we were ourselves and that's not your fault at all. We both just got busy and we hit a bump in the road but I love you Paige and I don't want anyone else. I promise that I just want you. Kissing her was terrible because it wasn't you and it tore me apart when I realized what I did."

"Why didn't you just tell me then?" Paige said, it clearly still bugging her that Emily hid it from her for as long as she did.

Emily sighed, not even knowing how to answer, "Because it meant nothing." She said with a shrug, "Because I didn't want to hurt you. Because I knew it was a mistake that you weren't going to take lightly. Honestly, I don't think there's just one answer to that, I just cowered out and I didn't know how to tell you. I was scared."

Paige nodded but didn't say anything in response to Emily.

"I'm really sorry Paige." Emily said again, filling the silence, "I know that that doesn't make up for it at all but I am."

Paige nodded again knowing how sincere Emily was being with her, "I know Em. And yeah, maybe I'm still mad about it but I'm glad we got the chance to talk about it. I guess we should've done this a lot sooner huh?"

Emily let out a small laugh, "Maybe. But I know you needed time to calm down and think about it." Emily shrugged before adding, "Plus we both know how stubborn you are." She hesitantly teased, but was happy that she did when she got a smile out of Paige.

"Hey I am not stubborn."

"Mhm sure." Emily said sarcastically getting a laugh out of her wife and Emily didn't even bother to contain the wide smile that spread across her own face, letting out a giggle solely caused by the sound of Paige's laugh filling her ears.

They quickly finished up their dinners, a little bit of small talk going on between them but not much. Paige paid the check and looked over expectantly at Emily when the waiter brought back her change, "ready to head home?"

Emily nodded her head, "Yeah." She said happy that the tension between them was gone, feeling some of the weight of the stressful week being lifted off of her shoulders.

Paige scooted out of her seat as Emily did the same. Emily was pleasantly surprised when Paige slid her hand down her forearm and intertwined their fingers as they walked out of the restaurant and towards their car, Paige stopping at the passenger door to open it for her before climbing in the driver's seat herself.

 **[][][][][][]**

"Hey I thought you were going to hang out with McKenna tonight." Kacey directed towards the living room, seeing Parker watching TV on the couch with Taylor passed out on the loveseat next to the couch, as she walked into the kitchen.

"I was but I texted her and she never text me back." Parker shouted back, over the back of the couch, her eyes still trained on the TV screen.

"That's weird." Kacey said with furrowed eyebrows as she emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of chips, "You should of told me. I was staying upstairs cause I thought you guys were down here." She admitted dropping down onto the couch. "So did you do something wrong to cause this avoidance?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, giving her big sister a look.

Parker laughed as she reached over and grabbed a handful of chips, "No I didn't do anything." She said with a shrug, popping a chip into her mouth, "I'm sure something just came up or she got stuck at her math meeting or something."

"I'm sorry did you just say math meeting?" Kacey said with a disgusted look on her face causing Parker to laugh.

"I know right. I don't get it either." Parker responded shaking her head slightly.

"So how do you think the dinner is going?" Kacey asked absentmindedly as they continued to watch TV and eat out of the bowl of chips that now sat between them.

"Hopefully good because I can't take them being so weird around each other anymore, it's starting to stress me out." Parker admitted.

Kacey nodded in agreement, "You don't think they'll get divorced do you?" She asked timidly as she shifter her gaze to Parker, who was already looking at her, the question taking her by surprise.

"No, I don't think they would ever do that." Parker said as confidently as she could, even though she wasn't completely sure that it wasn't a possibility herself. But knowing Kacey, Parker wasn't going to plant that seed in her head. Instead she was hoping that dinner would go well and everything would go back to normal, erasing both of their worries about how this was going to end between their parents.

Kacey simply nodded, but it was clear she wasn't fully convinced. The two girls fell into an eerie silence as they focused back onto the TV. Soon after the rattling noise of the garage door beginning to open made both girls look at each other with nervous eyes.

"Moment of truth." Kacey said dramatically causing Parker to let out a small laugh, although on the inside she was suddenly anxious to see how their parents evening had gone.

Both girls looked over the back of the couch as they heard their parents walk in and smiled as they saw Paige and Emily round the corner into the living room seemingly in decent moods.

"Hey." Kacey greeted as the other two women approached the couch, "How'd it go?"

"It went good." Emily said with a smile as she looked over her shoulder at Paige who was nodding in agreement.

Parker and Kacey both instantly perked up, "Really?" Parker asked, surprise clear in her tone.

Paige chuckled as she sat down next to her oldest daughter, "Yes. Really."

"That's awesome!" Kacey said, not being able to contain her excitement, "So are we all good now?" She questioned, "No more avoiding each other and weird, awkward dinners?" She said referring to the dreadfully silent dinners that they have been forced to endure during their parents fight.

"Well I don't think we're perfect and we still have some stuff to work out," Emily admitted honestly, "but I think we worked enough out to try to get back to normal."

"Thank god!" Parker stated dramatically as she stood up from the couch, "I don't think I could take it much longer, the tension in this house was ridiculous."

"Dude seriously, I've never felt so uncomfortable in my life. I thought at least one of them wasn't going to make it out alive." Kacey directed towards Parker with slightly widened eyes as she stood up too.

Parker nodded in agreeance before redirecting her attention to her parents, "I guess we'll head up to bed then, leave you two to have a peaceful night." Parker offered before her and Kacey quickly said their goodnights to their parents, making their way upstairs for the night immediately after.

"I'm sorry I let it get that bad around here." Paige apologized, eyeing Emily from the couch, "I didn't mean to I was just…" Paige stopped not really knowing how to explain herself.

"Mad." Emily jumped in, pushing off the wall she had been leaning against to walk over to Paige, "It's okay you know, you don't have to keep apologizing." She said walking over to where Taylor was still sleeping on the loveseat and sat down next to her, lightly running her fingers across the girl's forehead to brush some hair away.

Paige nodded as she watched Emily, "You want me to put her in bed?"

Emily nodded, leaning down to place a kiss on the side of Taylor's head before standing up and moving out of the way as Paige stood up and lifted Taylor into her arms easily. Emily's gaze followed Paige as she moved up the stairs and when Paige was out of sight she let her eyes roam around the room. She sighed as her eyes landed on a stack of blankets and a pillow that sat neatly on the floor next to the couch. Emily pursed her lips as she stared at them for a moment wondering if it would be pushing her luck to ask Paige to sleep upstairs with her tonight. It had been weird sleeping alone and Paige's empty spot beside her was a constant reminder of her own mistakes.

She let out a sigh as she turned the tv off and leaned down to pick up the stack of stuff. Emily walked over to the garage, throwing the blankets on the ground in front of the washing machine before shutting the lights off and walking upstairs with the pillow. She made it up the stairs and halfway down the hallway when Paige came out of Taylor's room.

Paige's eyes immediately fell to the pillow in Emily's hand, "What are you doing?" She asked, although she didn't have to.

Emily shrugged, suddenly feeling timid, "I just thought…maybe you could sleep in our room tonight." She managed to get out, "I-if you want to I mean." She added averting her eyes away from Paige and down to the ground.

Paige was slightly relieved that Emily had asked her to sleep in their room tonight. She couldn't stand sleeping on the couch anymore and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't consider just getting up and climbing in bed with Emily a few time in the middle of the night when she was tossing and turning uncomfortably on the couch. But Parker was right this morning, she never would admit that she couldn't stand it.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Paige said with a small grin.

Emily's eyes snapped up to Paige, slightly surprised, "Really?" She asked as a smile of her own made its way onto her face.

Paige nodded before giving Emily a stern look, "But no funny business Fields." She teased, in attempt to calm Emily's nerves. She couldn't help but smile in victory when Emily giggled at her.

"Promise." She said as she walked past Paige and into the room, tossing the pillow onto the bed before walking to the closet and slipping her shoes off, "Are you going to shower?" She asked as she looked over at Paige.

"No I'm just going to change and crawl into bed." She decided.

Emily nodded, "Okay well I'm going to jump in real quick then. I'll try to be quiet though just in case you fall asleep before I'm out." She said not wanting to disturb Paige on her first night back. She knew Paige hadn't been sleeping well on the couch and would probably pass out quickly and she didn't want to be the reason the woman was losing anymore sleep.

"Okay, thanks." Paige said as she dug a pair of sweats out of their dresser and slipped into them. She stopped however when she noticed Emily staring at her. "You need something?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at her as she turned to look at Emily, who was clearly lost in her thoughts.

Emily shook her head slightly as she snapped out of her thoughts, "No. Sorry." She apologized and turned to walk towards the bathroom before stopping and turning back towards Paige feeling confident, "Actually do you mind unzipping my dress for me?" She asked, pinching her lips together in attempt to stop a smile from forming on her lips.

Paige narrowed her eyes at Emily as she studied the woman now standing in front of her, "I thought we agreed no funny business?"

"We did. And I'm sticking to that, just need a little help that's all." Emily said putting her hands up in defense before turning her back to Paige and swiping her hair over her shoulder, allowing Paige access to the zipper.

"Mhm, whatever you say Em." Paige said knowing very well that if Emily could get into the dress on her own that she could get out of it on her own. Despite knowing that, she humored Emily and stepped closer to grasp the zipper and pull it down.

She immediately regretted her decision to participate when she pulled the zipper down and was met with Emily's bare back. She let her eyes trail down the path of tanned skin that she had always loved before she released the zipper. She swallowed hard as she continued to stare, "There you go." She said, her voice coming out slightly hoarse.

Emily smirked, keeping her back to Paige as she spoke, "Thanks, I couldn't wait to get out of this thing to be honest, it's a little tight." She stated as she slipped her arms out of the dress casually. She then gripped the sides to shimmy out of it letting it drop to the floor, pooling around her ankles before she kicked it towards their closet.

Paige wasn't even listening to what Emily was saying as she was overwhelmed with a heat that flashed through her entire body at the sight of her wife. She knew Emily was winning whatever kind of game she was trying to play and to be honest Paige didn't mind at all. She definitely didn't feel like she was losing considering Emily was standing in front of her with nothing on but a pair of red lacey underwear that was hardly covering much of anything.

Emily could feel Paige's eyes scanning her body and smirked victoriously as she moved towards the bathroom, making sure to sway her hips a little more than necessary as she flipped her hair back over her shoulder. She heard Paige let out a groan before her wife's voice stopped her and Emily looked over her shoulder.

"On second thought I could probably use a shower."

"Oh do you want to get in before me?" Emily asked trying to keep a serious look on her face but failing miserably as Paige's look of disbelief caused her to let out a laugh, "Come on." She said gesturing towards the bathroom with her head, "But no funny business." She stated sternly causing Paige to laugh this time.

"Well played Fields." She said nodding her head slowly as she moved forward and slipped her arms around Emily's waist from behind, leaning into her and burying her face into Emily's neck, "This doesn't mean I'm not still a little mad though." She mumbled into her wife's neck, letting her lips graze over the tanned skin.

"That's fine." Emily stated absentmindedly as she turned in Paige's arms and slipped her hands behind the other woman's neck, pulling slightly as she leaned in to connect her lips to Paige's in a rough kiss.

Paige instantly moaned into Emily's mouth, not wasting anytime to slip her tongue in and explore the well-known territory as she walked Emily backwards into the bathroom, kicking the door somewhat shut behind them before allowing herself to get lost in her wife for the rest of the night.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: As bad as I want to throw out a million excuses for why this took me so long, I'm going to restrain from doing so to save you the time because I have a lot of them. I really was busy though and then when I got un-busy I had a serious case of writers block and really for the life of me could not figure out where I was trying to go with this chapter. So I'm really hoping that it's alright and I just think it's a little rough because I spent countless hours staring at it aimlessly.**

 **With all of that being said if anybody has something that they want to see happen in future chapters or anything like that, feel free to send them my way because I feel like I'm losing my thunder a little bit here and I'm looking for something to spark me. Thanks again to all who are still reading, and as usual I hope you all enjoy the chapter :)**

Paige let out a groan, burying her face deeper into the back of Emily's neck as she started to come out of sleep before blinking her eyes a few time and letting them drift open completely. Right away she took in her position against Emily, letting a small smile graze her lips as she allowed herself a short moment of bliss. It didn't last long though as she let her mind wander to the way she had felt all last week. As bad as she wanted to let it all go, she couldn't help but let the images of Rachel and her wife seep into her head.

She knew that Emily would never intentionally hurt her and she did feel better about the entire situation after the talk they had the previous night but it still wasn't something that she could just forget in an instant. The thoughts lingered no matter how hard she tried to push them away and the deep feeling of not being good enough haunted her despite the fact she knew it wasn't true. Paige was stuck in her own head, overthinking everything, and she knew that at this point she was creating problems that didn't exist in reality within the confined space of her own imagination but she didn't know how to stop it.

She sighed as she loosened her grip on Emily's waist and slowly rolled onto her back, doing her best not to jostle the bed too much. She let her head fall to the side to peak at the clock, knowing that it had to be fairly early in the morning considering the alarm had yet to blare through the room. She moved her head to stare at the ceiling for a moment when she saw that it was only 4 in the morning. Paige carefully slid her arm out from under Emily, not wanting to wake her and although it took her a little while she finally was able to free herself completely from Emily's body.

Paige slowly got up out of bed and walked over to the closet, throwing on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before quietly leaving the room and heading downstairs to the kitchen. She looked through the fridge absentmindedly before moving to dig through the cabinets, not really hungry but needing something to do with herself. When she didn't find anything that she was interested in she simply moved over to the coffee maker and started it up, figuring a cup of coffee would have to do for now.

She set her hands on the counter and rested all her weight on them as she stared at the coffee maker and waited impatiently for it to fill. She hadn't been standing there very long before she felt warm hands slip under the front of her shirt, as well as a body pressing flush against her back.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked, her voice still groggy from sleep. She pressed a light kiss to the brunette's shoulder blade before resting the side of her head against Paige as she let her hands continue to scratch gently up and down her wife's stomach.

Paige sighed in content as her eyes closed, feeling the warmth emulating off of Emily's body. She had missed being close to Emily and there was nothing she loved more. Paige took a deep breath before turning around in Emily's arms, leaning back against the counter and allowing Emily to put all her weight on her as the raven haired girl snuggled into her chest.

Paige simply wrapped her arms around Emily and kissed the top of her head. Maybe Paige wasn't ready to forgive Emily entirely for what she did but at the end of the day they were in love and that wasn't going to change. Maybe she should hate Emily for the way she made her feel but the reality of it all was that she didn't and she didn't want to. She loved Emily with all her heart and she knew Emily felt the same way, so as much as she was struggling she didn't want to push Emily away anymore.

"Nothing. Just making some coffee." Paige answered.

"I can see that." Emily said with a small giggle as she lifted her head to look at Paige, "But why are you making it at 4 in the morning?"

"Right." Paige said in understanding, "just woke up and couldn't sleep." She explained nonchalantly with a shrug.

Emily reached her hand up to trace the side of Paige's jaw with her fingertips, "You okay?" Emily asked as she studied Paige's face with worried eyes.

"I'm fine." She said. There was no point in letting Emily know that she still was having trouble pushing away the thoughts and feelings they had discussed last night. She was working through it in her own way and she didn't want to worry Emily.

"You sure?" She asked, not fully believing Paige, "I mean considering you've been sleeping on the couch I thought you'd have no trouble sleeping through the night." Emily stated, "That and I figured I wore you out a little." She said as she placed a lingering kiss just under Paige's jaw.

"Oh don't worry, you did." Paige laughed lightly, letting her hands drift lower down Emily's back, "Speaking of last night, you really need to start wearing more clothes." Paige said as her hands reached Emily's back side and realized for the first time since Emily entered the kitchen that she was in nothing but a t-shirt and the same pair of lacey underwear that got her last night.

Emily couldn't hold back the small laugh that escaped her lips and the hot breath that hit Paige's neck made the brunette shudder slightly. Emily noticing this moved her mouth to the shell of Paige's ear, "Where's the fun in that?" She whispered her lips grazing Paige's skin before she caught her earlobe between her teeth, tugging on it gently before releasing it with a smirk.

"You're trying to kill me aren't you?" Paige accused shakily, amusement in her tone as she raised her eyebrow in accusation.

Emily smiled against Paige's skin, continuing to drop light kisses against her neck before she pulled away momentarily to look at Paige, whose eyes instantly locked onto hers, "I love you."

Paige couldn't help the large grin that spread across her face, "I love you too." She responded as she leaned in to capture Emily's bottom lip between her own.

Emily smiled into the kiss as she slid her hand up to the back of Paige's neck to pull her closer and deepen the kiss. Paige happily let Emily take full control as their mouths moved together in perfect sync as they both got lost in each other.

A low chimed beeping that indicated the coffee was done broke through the silence of the kitchen causing Emily to pull away from the kiss. Paige moved her lips to trail down Emily's neck as she let her catch her breath. Emily simply laughed at her wife as she tried to move out of her grip.

"Where are you going?" Paige murmured against the skin of her neck, showing no signs of stopping.

"I want some coffee." Emily whined before she let out another giggle.

Paige stopped and pulled away slightly so she could look at Emily, "I'm giving you some of my best stuff her Em." She stated, mocking offense, "and you want to turn it down for coffee?"

"Honey I've experienced all of your best stuff and its good. I mean really, you try hard." Emily teased, trying to keep a straight face as Paige shook her head, her jaw dropped dramatically as she played into Emily's game, "But I mean are you really better than coffee in the morning." Emily asked, giving Paige a look as she moved around her to grab the mug that Paige had already set out.

"Hmmm I don't know if I'm better than coffee in the morning," Paige said as she pressed her front to Emily's back, pinning her against the counter, "Let's find out." She whispered into Emily's ear as she let her hand snake around her wife's waist before sliding her hand down Emily's stomach and smoothly slipped it into the front side of her panties.

Emily's mouth instantly fell open, a small moan escaping as she fell into Paige's arms. Paige instantly smirked against Emily's neck as she sucked and nipped at the skin, her hand moving efficiently between Emily's legs despite the awkward angle.

"Mommy?"

Paige jumped at the sound of her daughter's sleepy voice. She immediately jerked her hand out of Emily's underwear as she turned around to face the figure at the bottom of the stairs in a slight panic. She was met with Taylor rubbing at her eyes, still half asleep, "What's wrong Tay?" Emily asked after she composed herself, jumping in for Paige, who was somewhat frozen from the surprise.

"I heard noises." She mumbled out.

"We're sorry baby." Emily said walking over and gently picking up the little girl, who instantly leaned her head down on Emily's shoulder, "Let's get you back to bed, okay?" Emily said softly as she placed a light kiss on the side of her head.

"I wanna stay with you and mommy." Taylor stated quietly as she clung on tighter to Emily and buried her head deeper into her neck.

Emily sighed knowing that she wasn't going to be able to convince Taylor to go back to bed so she simply nodded as she rubbed soothing circles across Taylor's back, walking back towards Paige, "Here take her for a sec." Emily said as she stood in front of Paige and waited for her to grab Taylor out of her arms.

"What, why?" Paige asked causing Emily to raise an eyebrow at her in confusion.

"I just want to go put some pants on." Emily answered as she gestured to her bare legs, "I'm also having a slight situation going on down there thanks to someone and their need to prove something that we both already know."

Paige smirked a little, "So I'm better than coffee in the morning then?"

"Oh, so much better." Emily said with a wink as she tried to hand Taylor over again.

Paige's face immediately dropped as her hands shot up and she jumped back slightly, "Whoa, dude wait."

Emily looked at Paige with wide eyes, "Paige what are you doing?" She asked sternly, not understanding what was going on.

"I have a sticky situation of my own." Paige said as she lifted her hand and rubbed her fingers together like it was obvious, "Geez let me wash my hands. Don't want getting…you all on her. It's weird." Paige said cringing slightly and Emily just shook her head as she stepped back to let Paige get to the sink where she thoroughly washed her hands.

When she was done Paige happily lifted a groggy Taylor out of Emily's arms and let the girl rest against her as she walked them over to the couch and Emily made her way upstairs. Paige lowered herself gently onto the couch, Taylor settling against her chest, as she rubbed the girls back like Emily had been doing. By the time Emily returned to drape a blanket over Paige and Taylor, the little girl had already fallen back to sleep.

"How's the coffee?" Paige asked with a smirk as she let her head fall to the side to look at Emily, who had both hands wrapped around her mug as she sipped on it next to Paige.

"Not as good as you," Emily admitted playfully with a shrug, "but at least this is something that will be finished."

Paige let out a small laugh as she shook her head, "hey that wasn't my fault." She defended herself, "I had every intention to finish that." She said as she leaned to drop a quick kiss on Emily's lips.

Emily finished her cup of coffee quickly but it didn't seem to do its trick as Emily was fast asleep on Paige's shoulder not long after she finished it. Paige sat on the couch and watched tv, appreciating the peace and quiet that she hadn't really been able to get in the last few days, while still having the warmth of her family surrounding her.

By 7 o'clock Emily was already awake bu still lazily leaning against Paige, both of their attention still on the tv screen. The sound of rustling upstairs and a bedroom door opening and closing shortly after brought their attention to the stairs.

"Morning." Parker said as she strode down the stairs, stopping just behind the couch when she noticed Taylor curled up with Paige and Emily, "She okay?"

Emily simply nodded as she ran her hand over Taylor's head softly, "Just woke up in the middle of the night and when she found us downstairs she wanted to stay."

Parker raised an eyebrow in question, "And you and mom were down here in the middle of the night because?" Paige smirked and threw a wink over the back of the couch in Parker's direction causing the girl's eyes to widen in disgust.

"Paige!" Emily exclaimed in disapproval as she smacked her wife's shoulder with the back of her hand.

"Okay I really don't want to know," Parker said as she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, "Like really, really don't want to know but I feel it's important that I ask where your little extracurricular activities took place before I go make my breakfast on the kitchen counter."

Paige and Emily both couldn't help but chuckle a little while they watched Parker. Paige was about to open her mouth but Emily knowing her wife would say something to further tease their daughter jumped in before Paige could, "Honey your fine. Nothing happened in the kitchen, you're safe."

Parker let her head drop back dramatically as she clasped her hands together and slightly raised them to the sky, "Thank you God." She said before turning on her heels to head to the kitchen.

"You should go get ready for work too babe." Emily said as she turned her attention back to Paige.

Paige nodded her head and shook the little girl cuddled into her, waking her up before lifting her and carrying her upstairs to get them both ready for the day. Emily stood up once they were gone and walked over to the kitchen to find Parker standing in front of the toaster, impatiently waiting for something to pop out. Emily noticed the girl's bouncing leg immediately and eyed her curiously as she leaned against the counter.

"You okay?" Emily asked, drawing the brunette's attention.

"Huh, yeah of course." She said turning her attention back to the bagel that just popped up out of the toaster.

Emily nodded her head "Okay. Why are you in such a rush?" She asked as she watched Parker scarf down the bagel she had just finished making.

"I wanted to get to school early." She managed to get out through a mouthful of bread, "McKenna's been swimming in the mornings and I want to try to catch her."

"How are things going with her?" Emily asked knowing Parker had been spending quite a bit of her time with the girl recently.

Parker shrugged, "I don't know, she's kind of been M.I.A. this weekend." She admitted before leaning over the table and giving Emily a kiss on the cheek, "Can I take the truck so I don't have to walk?"

"Ask your mom." Emily said not willing to give up the keys to Parker again.

"Ask your mom what?" Paige asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Can I take the truck to school? I wanted to go early to catch McKenna during her morning workout." Parker explained.

Paige nodded, "Yeah sure kid but straight to school, nowhere else got it?" She stated firmly.

"Got it." Parker said before quickly snatching the keys off of the counter and giving Paige a kiss on the cheek as she passed her, "Bye, see you later." She threw over her shoulder before heading out to the garage.

She threw her things in the truck before jumping in herself and driving straight to the school. When she got there she immediately spotted McKenna's car in the parking lot and pulled in next to her. Parker grabbed her bags and walked towards the pool, the school for the most part still empty, with the exception of a few students and staff members.

When she got to the pool she was surprised to not find McKenna doing laps, so she just walked over to the locker room to put her things in her locker figuring McKenna would be hanging out somewhere around here. Parker entered the locker room and stopped as soon as she saw McKenna already in there digging through her own locker, which was placed just two down from Parker's. McKenna glanced up catching Parker's eyes for a quick moment before she returned her attention to her locker. Parker furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before shaking her head in annoyance before walking past McKenna and tossing her bags onto the floor so she could open her locker.

"I'm surprised to see you here," McKenna said softly, "I mean you usually do your extra laps after practice so I wasn't expecting you."

Parker shifted her eyes to the side to peak at McKenna but the other girl just continued to change out of her swim gear, not paying much mind to Parker, who pinched her lips together in a scowl as she shoved her swimming stuff into her locker, "Well I know you like to do your laps in the mornings and I figured if I didn't show up that you'd spend your entire day trying to avoid running into me." She explained as a heavy tension fell over them, "I mean I could be going crazy, but that's what it seems like."

McKenna didn't respond to Parker at all, instead she finished changing and carefully placed her thing back into her locker before shutting it. She started making her way towards the exit door of the locker room but she stopped in her tracks when Parker slammed her locker shut in frustration. The loud noise had slightly startled McKenna, who had now turned to face the other swimmer standing just a few feet away from her.

"Okay, what's your problem?" Parker asked defeated, done with whatever game McKenna was playing.

McKenna simply shrugged as she averted her eyes away from Parker again, "I don't know what you're talking about." She stated quietly.

Parker laughed in disbelief, "Yeah, sure you don't." She said taking a few steps towards McKenna, "Come on, you never showed up to hang out and I've texted you a few times and you didn't respond. Just tell me what's wrong because I for the life of me can't figure out what I did to piss you off so bad."

McKenna lifted her eyes to meet Parker's and guilt shot through her immediately at the sight of the desperate look on the brunettes face. She let out a heavy sigh, "You didn't do anything Parker." She admitted honestly, confusing the girl standing in front of her even further, "I just…I don't know, I don't think we really belong in the same group. We're just different people, that's all."

Parker narrowed her eyes in question, "What are you talking about?" She said surprised by McKenna's reasoning, "We have a lot in common, I mean I thought we were getting along really well."

"Yeah we were." McKenna agreed as she nodded her head and ran her fingers through her wet hair, "But we've only known each other for a few weeks, how much could we really know about who each other really are?"

"Seriously where did all this come from?" Parker asked not understanding what McKenna was talking about, "Literally two days ago we were completely fine."

"Well I've just heard some things and I'm not sur-"

"Wait what have you heard about me?" Parker asked cutting her off before she could finish.

"According to some people you can apparently be trouble." McKenna said and it was clear that Parker didn't like what she was saying by the way her jaw immediately clenched.

"And you just believed it?" Parker exclaimed, completely fired up now that people were telling McKenna stuff about her.

"Well what do you expect me to do Parker?" McKenna asked trying to keep her composure. She didn't like to fight and she wasn't going to do it. "You're the one who told me that you had been getting into trouble when I first met you, remember?"

"Yeah but I told you that I was trying to stay out of it, remember that?" Parker retorted. "And I have, so what's the big deal."

"The big deal is that I'm not that kind of girl Parker." McKenna stated honestly, "I don't like getting in trouble, so excuse me if I don't want to be involved with someone who is going to put me in a situation that I don't want to be in. If it's bad enough for someone to literally warn me about you then I'm sorry but it's a little concerning to me."

Parker lifted her eyebrow at that, "Who warned you about me?" She asked as calmly as she could.

"What?" McKenna asked, too caught up in her short rant to process what Parker had asked.

"You said someone warned you. Who?"

"I don't know." McKenna said, stopping to think for a moment about the encounter she had had the other day, "Some girl. I have no clue who she was."

"What'd she look like?" Parker asked through gritted teeth, already having a good idea of who it was.

"Blonde hair, blue eyes?" McKenna informed her, trying her best to remember the girl, "I-I don't really remember, I just accidentally bumped into her, I wasn't really paying attention to what she looked like."

"I'm gonna kill her." Parker said, mostly to herself, turning and walking back to her locker. She quickly locked it as she mumbled empty threats under her breathe towards the blonde that wasn't there.

McKenna looked at her with questioning eyes, "What are you doing?" She asked hesitantly as she watched the girl carefully.

"I need to go talk to someone." Parker said before turning and walking towards the locker room exit.

"Wait, what?" McKenna exclaimed, hustling over to the girl, "You can't just leave." She yelled after the girl who was already walking down the hallway, "What about school?"

"I have some time. I'll be back before it starts." She loudly threw over her shoulder before disappearing from McKenna's view.

Parker jogged across the parking lot and hopped into her truck before speeding off towards Brooke's house. She got there rather fast, Brooke not living to far from the school campus. She jogged up to the front door and knocked loudly a few times knowing that Brooke's parents would've already left for work since they both worked further into the city and had to leave early to get there.

Just as Parker was about to bang on the door again it swung open and Carly rolled her eyes in annoyance as she spotted the brunette, "What the hell are you doing here McCullers?" She asked with an edge to her voice.

"I need to talk to Brooke." Parker grumbled out as she pushed her way past Carly and into the house.

Carly grabbed her by the arm after she closed the door and pulled her back towards her, "Hey watch yourself McCullers, this is my house." Parker sighed and tried to calm herself down a little bit but it was proving to be hard, "I don't know what's going on with the two of you and honestly I don't particularly like you so I don't care but if you do anything to hurt my little sister I swear to God McCullers, you're dead."

Parker shook her head as she scoffed, "Relax, I didn't do anything to hurt Brooke, that's all her."

Carly let go of Parker's arm, lightly shoving her towards the stairs, "Just don't do anything stupid." She warned before turning and walking out the front door.

Parker was refueled by her anger as she quickly made her way up the stairs and straight to Brooke's room, not bothering to knock when she got there. She threw the door open before stepping into the room, slightly startling Brooke, who was still lying in bed, when she slammed the door shut behind her, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Brooke's eyes were wide as she sat up in bed and stared at Parker for a moment surprised by her sudden appearance. She hadn't heard a word from Parker since they had "broken up" despite the many texts and attempts to catch her alone at school Brooke had made.

"Why?!" Parker exclaimed angrily when Brooke didn't respond to her initial outburst fast enough, "Why would you tell her that! You really can't just leave me alone and let me be happy can you?!"

Brooke's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she slowly swung her feet over the edge of the bed, "I have no idea what you're talking about Parker, so why don't you calm down," she said her voice still raspy from sleep.

"Calm down?" Parker scoffed as she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from Brooke, "I'll calm down when you tell me what your problem is."

"At the moment you're my problem." Brooke responded blatantly as she narrowed her eyes at the brunette standing on the other side of the room, the frustration the other girl had causing an anger of her own to suddenly rise to the surface.

"You're the one running around causing trouble for me and I'm the problem?" Parker asked in disbelief before shaking her head again and letting out a small laugh, "Why am I not surprised."

"Okay clearly you know something that I don't so why don't you do us both a favor and clue me in on whatever's going on." Brooke said, finally feeling fully awake as she stood up and stepped closer to Parker, leaving a little bit of distance between them.

"Whatever you said to McKenna about me freaked her out. So congratulations, if you were trying to get her to stay away from me, mission accomplished." She said before turning around to leave the room.

Brooke quickly closed the small gap between them and grabbed Parker's arm stopping her, "Parker wait."

Parker immediately ripped her arm away from the blonde, "Why! I'm tired of whatever game you're playing, I can't do it anymore." She said completely defeated at this point as she let her gaze fall to the floor.

"Parker." Brooke said softly trying to get the other girl to look at her as she took a final step forward to stand directly in front of Parker. When her eyes remained glued to the floor Brooke gently guided Parker's chin up with her thumb and finger, forcing her to meet her gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about." She quietly stated again. "I don't know what she told you to make you think that but I've never talked to McKenna in my life."

"What?" Parker asked shaking her head, "No, it was you. It had to be you, who else would've said something?" Parker asked aloud, even though it was clear she was mostly thinking out loud. They both stood there in silence for a moment before Parker shut her eyes and let her head drop back as she let out an annoyed groan.

"What?" Brooke asked.

"Carly." Parker stated simply as she rubbed at her face in frustration. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, someone who enjoys nothing more than making my life as hard as possible these days. It was Carly." She concluded as she let out a heavy sigh and Brooke immediately saw the anger return to Parker's eyes as she started to move towards her bedroom door, presumably headed out to find Carly.

"Hey wait a minute." Brooke said, stopping Parker before she could leave by grabbing her again. Parker hummed in response, waiting for the other girl to continue.

"Look, clearly you don't think very highly of me," Brooke said stopping to take a deep breath before continuing, "but I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you."

Parker stared at the girl in front of her, really taking in her presence for the first time since she walked into the room. She was so full of rage when she barged into the room that she hadn't necessarily had the opportunity to really take in the fact that she was alone with Brooke, one of the things that she had desperately been trying to avoid recently.

Brooke let out a small sarcastic laugh when Parker didn't respond but just stared at her blankly, "I know it's hard to believe but it's true." She said softly as she stepped towards Parker, closing the gap between them once again as she reached out and fiddled with the hem of Parker's shirt.

Parker swallowed hard, suddenly finding herself having a hard time breathing at the moment. "I'm sorry I thought it was you who did that, I just thought…" Parker stopped and sighed.

"That I was jealous and was trying to keep her away from you." Brooke filled in knowingly.

Parker nodded as she gave Brooke a sad smile, feeling a little guilty that she had jumped the gun on the situation, "Yeah, something like that."

"Well you're not completely wrong." Brooke said as she ran her fingers through her hair and let out another sigh, not really wanting to admit anything. Parker raised her eyebrow in question, "I was a little jealous." Brooke said in a mumble causing the corner of Parker's mouth to curl up into a smile.

"I'm sorry what was that?" Parker asked smugly as she turned her head so her ear was closer to Brooke.

Brooke rolled her eyes as she lightly hit Parker in the chest but couldn't help the small smile that grazed her lips. She stared at Parker as the brunettes giggles died down and they were standing in silence. Brooke bit her lip in thought before inhaling sharply and meeting Parker's eyes, "I miss you." She said, it barely coming out as a whisper.

Parker stared at her intently, she hadn't really been expecting the other girl to say that. She didn't have time to respond though as she felt Brooke's hand lightly sliding up her side and she instantly felt hot breath on her neck as Brooke stepped impossibly close to her. Brooke let her lips linger just above the skin for a moment, waiting for any sort of protest, but she didn't wait long before letting her lips fall to the side of Parker's jaw, pressing a light kiss to it before pulling back and letting her eyes glance up at Parker. When Parker didn't do anything to stop her Brooke let her lips wander to the skin just below Parker's ear, working her way down the girl's neck, continuing to trail light kisses along the smooth skin.

Parker let out a shaky breath as she instinctively leaned her head to the side and gripped Brooke's waist with both of her hands, feeling like she needed something to steady herself. She instantly regretted it though when she felt nothing but warm skin under her fingers. Her head was telling her to stop and pull away from the girl but her hands wandered across the skin of Brooke's hip before sliding across the smooth surface to her lower back and letting them rest there.

Brooke didn't need much more encouragement as she slid her hand to the back of Parker's neck, using her other hand to guide Parker's face down to hers before connecting their lips cautiously. Parker felt Brooke smile against her lips when she tightened her grip around the blonde and kissed her back forcibly after a moment. Their mouths moved in sync, both easily falling back into their rhythm with each other.

Parker's head was spinning in multiple ways. She didn't want to admit it but she missed Brooke too despite trying to distract herself from the other girl. She also knew however that Brooke wasn't willing to give her what she wanted and Parker wasn't going to slip back into this because she wanted more. But she couldn't deny how kissing the girl in her arms made her feel.

Maybe she shouldn't be doing it. Maybe she was just asking to get her heart broken but kissing Brooke fulfilled ever cliché. Her heart hammered in her chest at speeds she wasn't sure her body could contain and her stomach flipped continuously. It made her feel on fire. It felt right. So Parker allowed herself to kiss the girl deeply and as passionately as she could before pulling away, knowing that it could be the last time she was able to.

Parker pulled away slowly after a moment, still not really wanting to but knowing she really needed to, "Wait." She said as she removed her hands from the other girl and let them drop to her sides awkwardly.

Brooke looked up at Parker with hooded eyes, "What's wrong." She asked breathlessly as she tried to close the gap that Parker had created.

Parker put her hand up to stop the other girl's movements, "Things haven't changed Brooke." She stated honestly, "I don't want to do this anymore, I shouldn't have kissed you."

Brooke sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest, clearly unhappy, "So what? We just aren't anything to each other anymore?" She asked getting frustrated, "You've been ignoring my texts. You've been avoiding me at school. Is that just it? You're just going to completely cut me out of your life?"

Parker swallowed the lump forming in her throat because that's exactly what she was planning on doing. She didn't want to but what else was she supposed to do. "What am I supposed to do Brooke? You don't want the same thing I do." She explained, "I have to move on and that's the only way I know how to. I hate having to do that but I don't know what else to do because this," She said pointing between the two of them, "this is exactly what happens when I don't cut you out."

"What's so wrong with that?" Brooke questioned, "It was fine before."

Parker sighed heavily, "Well it's not fine anymore. I deserve better than that and so do you."

They both stood there in silence for a moment before Brooke nodded her head slowly as she did her best to hold back the tears that were quickly blurring her vision. Parker immediately noticed the tears forming in the other girl's eyes and had to fight the urge to pull the blonde into her arms with everything she had.

"Go get dressed," Parker broke the silence, "I'll give you a ride to school so you're not late."

Brooke simply nodded again, not trusting herself to speak. Parker nodded back awkwardly before leaving to wait in the truck out front. Brooke sighed as she let a few tears fall before pulling herself together, changing quickly and heading outside to jump in the passenger's side of the truck. 

**[][][][][][][]**

"Parker you're pulling too much water!" Paige shouted from the sidelines, over to the brunette that had just resurfaced at the end of the pool, "Come on get your head in it." She said directing her to go again. Paige continued to pace the length of the pool as she watched the next group of swimmers swim their laps.

"Excuse me Paige?"

Paige stopped and turned her head at the sound of her name. Her grip on her clipboard instantly tightened, her knuckles whitening and her jaw clenching as anger surged through her entire body.

"Um sorry to interrupt your practice, I uh…I didn't know you ran it this late."

"Can I help you with something?" Paige asked through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes.

The blonde across from her wasn't surprised by the reaction but being prepared for Paige's anger didn't make her feel any less intimidated, "I just wanted to talk to you for a moment."

Paige stared at the woman across from her blankly for a few moments before letting out a heavy sigh and turning to face the pool. She noticed that the girls were done with their laps and most of the team was simply preoccupied with each other as they waited for Paige to redirect her attention to them.

Paige blew the whistle around her neck to gain everyone's attention, "Good job today ladies! We're finished for today, I'll see you all tomorrow." The girl's instantly began to make their way to the locker room, but Kacey and Parker both hung back, watching their mom carefully.

"It's alright girls, go ahead." Paige said, to which Kacey hesitantly stood up and made her way to the locker room like the rest had but Parker's jaw clenched further as she glared at the woman next to Paige, "Parker." Paige said sternly.

Parker's eyes softened as they moved to Paige, "I know you and mama are always preaching that 'be the bigger person' thing but for once can you please just throw caution to the wind and punch her." Parker suggested.

Paige tried her best to look as if she disapproved of the girl's remark but failed as her lips curled up into a small smile, "Go Parker." She said simply, gesturing to the locker room.

"I'm going, I'm going." Parker said, putting her hands up in surrender as she turned on her heels and disappeared into the locker room.

"Alright Rachel, whatever you came here to say make it quick." Paige said as she turned back to the blonde.

Rachel sighed at the edge in Paige's voice, "I just wanted to apologize for everything that happened, it was never my intention to come between you and Emily."

Paige furrowed her eyebrows at that, "So what exactly was your intention then when you went after my wife?"

"I wasn't going after your wife." Rachel protested without missing a beat as she shook her head, "I-…it was just something that happened."

"It was something that should've never happened, is what it is." Paige said, her frustration and anger over the entire situation enveloping her again, "Emily is your colleague Rachel, nothing else. Let's make that clear." Paige stated as she stepped closer to Rachel, "She's married. To me. We have a family and you had no right to do what you did, I don't care if it was something that was intended or not."

"It wasn't just me." Rachel stated thoughtlessly, "It takes two."

"You really want to say that to me right now?" Paige questioned angrily as she tossed the clipboard she was still tightly clutching off to the side, "I've already heard Emily's side of things alright, so don't sit here and try to tell me what my wife did. I already know."

When Rachel didn't say anything back Paige stepped further into Rachel's space and continued, "You know what I think?" Paige asked rhetorically, "I think you made a move and when Emily pulled away that made you mad because you knew Emily and me were having problems and she still chose me over you." Paige said letting out a puff of air through her noise as she shook her head, "You finally saw the perfect opportunity to get her didn't you? And you took it. I'm not your friend Rachel, I see right through this whole thing so don't act all innocent and play victim."

Rachel's eyes were slightly widened in surprise, "It wasn't like that at all."

"Yeah I'm sure it wasn't." Paige said unconvincingly, not interested in all what Rachel had to say, "Look, whether you came down here to honestly apologize for all the trouble you've caused with this or you're here to clear your conscious, I really don't care. All I want is for you to stay away from Emily and my kids."

Rachel nodded her head in agreeance, "Yeah, of course." She said timidly.

Paige nodded her head once in appreciation before stepping away from Rachel and leaning down to pick up her clipboard. She turned to walk back to her office, but stopped and looked over her shoulder when she heard Rachel start to speak again.

"I know you don't want to hear it, but I really am sorry for what happened." Rachel said, pausing for a short moment before continuing, "You really do have an amazing family and whether you believe it or not, it really tears me up that I almost ruined that."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, it would've taken a whole lot more than you to ruin this family." Paige stated truthfully, leaving the conversation at that.

Just as Paige headed towards the locker room a few girls emerged, including Parker and Kacey, who waited off to the side of the door for Paige to reach them.

"Hey you okay?" Parker asked as Paige approached.

Paige nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I do have to finish a few things before I head home though." She informed them as she gestured to her office.

"Alright well I have the truck so I'll just take Kace with me and we'll tell mama you got a little held up."

"Maybe don't mention Rachel's drop in though, I'll tell her about it myself when I get home." Paige said. Parker and Kacey both nodded before heading home and Paige walked back to her office.

To be honest she didn't really have any work to catch up on or do, but she really needed a moment of silence for herself and that's hard to find in a house containing four other people. Paige wanted nothing more than to put all of this behind her but it was hard when everyone kept reminding her of it.

She sat around for a little while, not really doing much of anything but eventually figured it was best to head home before Emily started to worry. She got home just in time for dinner and was happy to find that everyone was seemingly back to normal. She sat at the table and engaged in the small talk about everyone's day and she was surprised to find herself forgetting about all the problems that have been going on lately.

Once they were finished up with dinner everyone excused themselves and did their own thing for the rest of the night. Emily had already gone upstairs, wanting to go to bed early and Paige was thankful for that. She may not have been able to sleep last night but she definitely was exhausted tonight and couldn't wait to hop into bed.

Paige headed to her and Emily's bedroom and found Emily already in bed leaned up against the headboard, "So you'll never guess who stopped by to see me today." Paige said as she flicked off the light and walked over to sit on the edge of her side of the bed. She figured if she brought it up now that she wouldn't have to engage in any type of long overthought conversation, which with her luck lately would've most likely ended in some sort of fight between her and Emily.

"Who?" Emily asked half interested as her eyes moved from the tv screen, that was lighting up the room, briefly to glance over at Paige before returning to the screen across the room.

"Rachel." Paige simply stated.

"What?" Emily asked surprised, not only at who dropped by to see Paige but also at her wife's calm demeanor, "What did she want?" She asked, her full attention now on Paige.

"Nothing much, just came by and apologized." Paige said as she lifted the bedspread and slipped under the covers, "I'd say it was a definitely attempt to clear her conscious."

Emily slightly frowned at the annoyance in Paige's voice and silently cursed Rachel for going anywhere near Paige. Emily was doing everything in her power to get things back to normal and she was nervous that this would set her and Paige back, "Knowing you that probably was a bad move on her part." Emily stated, trying her best to keep it light.

Paige chuckled lightly, "Your daughter suggested I punch her."

Emily closed her eyes lightly as she let out a small sigh, "Oh God, please tell me you didn't listen."

"I didn't." Paige answered, "But I'm not going to lie, I thought about it."

Emily laughed as she looked down at Paige who was smirking, "What am I going to do with the two of you?"

Paige shrugged as she let a small smile rest on her lips, "Us McCullers are a tough bunch that shouldn't be messed with."

"Mhm, you all are a bunch of softies is what you are." Emily teased causing a small pout to form on Paige's lips. Emily reached over and ran her thumb across Paige's jutted out bottom lip, "See, softie." She stated softly.

Paige smiled as she scooted closer to Emily and let her head lean against her wife's stomach, "Whatever." She said, accepting defeat as she closed her eyes. She sighed in content as Emily's fingers scratched lightly at the skin on her lower back where her shirt had ridden up a little. She felt Emily press a soft kiss to the top of her head and it didn't take long before the soft murmur of the tv faded out completely and she lost out to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Hey guys, first off I want to thank everyone who was kind enough to throw some suggestions my way (or those who just let me know what was working in the story and what wasn't), it really really helped me out. I really appreciate it and you all had some really great ideas, I was pleasantly surprised by all the feedback (I got enough suggestion to work with for not only this chapter, like I expected, but for the next few so again thank you).**

 **Heads up, this chapter is a little shorter than usual (sorry about that) but I felt it was a good place to stop based off what I want to do for the next chapter and also I really just wanted to get it up for you guys so. Also, sorry for any mistakes (spelling, grammar, etc.), it's creeping up on the very early hours of the morning here on the west coast and I read through the chapter but I don't think my brain is in a reliable state at this hour so who knows what I missed. Finally, as usual, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy. Feel free to let me know what you thought and if you guys ever have any suggestion or want to see something please let me know at any time, I love it when you guys give me some direction on where you want the story to go. Thanks again for everything :)**

Emily had been standing in front of the sink washing dishes when she heard heavy feet padding down the stairs. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see Paige stroll into the kitchen and over to the fridge. Emily turned her attention back to the sink as Paige moved around the kitchen silently. She had been unusually quite since her and the girls had gotten home from school a couple hours ago and she wanted to make sure Paige was okay.

Despite the urge to ask, Emily could hear the low murmur of the tv coming from the living room, along with the girls voices that carried into the kitchen and wasn't sure if she should wait until her and Paige were alone in case something was wrong. While things had gone back to normal for the most part and Paige and her were doing good, they still had their days where things were off between them.

"How was work?" Emily asked as she looked back over her shoulder casually, "You've been quite since you got home." She pointed out a little more hesitantly.

"Kind of a long day." Paige stated as she shrugged casually, "Just tired."

Emily nodded her head, noticing the slight edge in Paige's voice. She knew it wasn't a good idea to push Paige for more but she did it anyway, "Anything specific happen?"

Paige sighed as she closed the fridge, forgetting about her slight hunger, "No. Just a long, stressful day."

Emily eyed her wife briefly before forcing a small smile onto her face, "Okay."

Paige watched Emily as she turned back around to face the sink before wandering over to a cabinet in the corner herself and digging through it, still looking for a snack to fulfill her appetite. It didn't take long before she heard Emily's voice break through the silence again.

"So I was thinking," Emily started before pausing momentarily. Paige raised her eyebrow in question, encouraging Emily to continue as she leaned against the counter to face her wife, "Umm I thought maybe we could get away for the weekend."

Paige's face scrunched in a little confusion, "Get away?"

"Yeah. I mean it's a three day weekend and I don't know, I just thought that it might be good for us to spend some time together." Emily explained, "We don't have to go anywhere far or anything like that, but maybe some time away from everything would be nice."

"Why do we need to get away from anything?" Paige asked, "I thought we were fine again."

Emily sighed as she turned to fully face Paige, "We are fine. I just thought it'd be nice, that's all."

"Well there are a lot of nice things that I'd love to do too Emily but I have important things to do around here that I can't just brush off whenever I feel like it." Paige slightly snapped back.

"You know what, forget it okay." Emily said irritated as she tossed the dish towel that was in her hand next to the sink angrily before turning to leave.

"Emily." Paige said softly as she pushed herself off the counter, gently grabbing Emily's arm to stop her as she tried to leave.

"No." Emily snapped back in a hushed tone, "Excuse me for thinking our marriage is important and something that would be worth working on." Emily stated as she pulled her arm away from Paige, "You're right we are fine, but I'm tired of just being fine Paige."

Emily turned and successfully made her way out of the kitchen this time. Walking upstairs immediately. Paige groaned as she leaned her head back, angry at herself. "So stupid Paige," She mumbled to herself as she straightened back up, "So, so stupid." She said as she shook her head and moved back towards the cabinet she had previously been digging through.

"What'd you do now?"

"Jesus!" Paige exclaimed startled, as she whipped around, clutching at her chest.

"Sorry," Kacey said with a light chuckle. Walking over to the fridge and grabbing a water out, "So what's got you in here mumbling to yourself?"

Paige sighed, "Nothing."

"Whatever you say." Kacey said as she turned on her heels and started walking out of the kitchen and back towards the living room, turning at the last minute to look at Paige, "You know if you keep lashing out at her every time she tries to get you to talk to her she's going to stop trying eventually."

Paige stared at the young girl across the room from her, not sure what to say. She was glad when Kacey continued talking and she didn't have to come up with something, "She just wants you to open up a little and try." She said, "I know that it's kind of her own fault that things are a little shaky but she's at least trying to make up for it and get you guys back on good terms."

Paige nodded slowly as Kacey walked out of the room. She knew, despite her attempts, she hadn't really been opening up about their issues. Instead she settled for trying to pretend the issues between her and Emily didn't exist. She knew Emily was right, they were just fine. Emily liked to talk things out, Paige on the other hand didn't want anything to do with any sort of confrontation. Not with Emily. But she knew it was time that she tried a little harder to go outside of her comfort zone and figure things out.

She sighed again and sat in the kitchen for a little while, giving Emily some time to cool down before she went to talk to her. She eventually scooted herself off of the counter that she was sitting on and took a deep breath before making her way up the stairs and down the hallway towards her and Emily's room.

Paige opened their bedroom door slowly, peaking in before entering and shutting the door behind her. "Em?" She asked quietly, receiving no answer. She saw Emily lying in bed but she hadn't been up here for more than fifteen minutes so Paige knew there was no way she was already asleep, "Come on Emily, I know you're not sleeping.

When she got nothing but silence she tried again, "Does this mean I'm taking the couch tonight?" Paige joked, although at this point she was pretty sure that may have been a legitimate question rather than a joke.

"Do whatever you want." Emily mumbled from her spot in bed.

Paige sighed as she stepped closer to the bed and sat on the edge, making sure to leave some space between the two of them, "I'm sorry Em. I shouldn't have responded like I did. Like I said it was a long day and I guess I kind of just took it out on you, but I didn't mean to." She explained.

Paige waited patiently for a response, but after a few moments of silence she figured she wasn't getting one. She reached over and gently grabbed onto Emily's lower leg and shaking it lightly, not getting much of a grip on it due to the comforter lying over Emily's body, "Em?"

Emily shifted from her place and sat up before looking over her shoulder to look at Paige, "What?" She asked still slightly irritated.

Paige's face dropped when she heard the roughness of Emily's voice and saw the redness lingering on the rims of her eyes, "Come on Em don't do that." Paige said softly as she scooted further up the bed and reached up to cup Emily's cheek. Paige was hesitant but when Emily didn't pull away she ran her thumb under the woman's eye.

"What do you want me to do Paige?" Emily asked in defeat. The slight edge in her voice not going unnoticed by Paige.

"I want you to pretend I wasn't such a jerk earlier." Paige said softly as she dropped her head and shook it, "You know our marriage is important to me. You and the kids mean everything to me and if you think getting away for the weekend would help in any way, of course I'll go with you." She said, looking up again and meeting Emily's eyes.

"I'm not going to force you to go if y-"

"No, no." Paige cut her off quickly, "I want to go Emily. I promise." She said dropping her hand from Emily's face and jumping off the bed quickly, "I'll pack right now." She insisted, walking straight into the closet and grabbing some stuff.

"Paige." Emily said as she leaned over to try to be able to see into the closet.

"Hell, I'll call in sick tomorrow we can leave right now." Paige called out from inside the closet, ignoring Emily's attempt to get her attention.

"Paige." Emily tried again, her lips curling up into a smile.

"Yeah?" Paige responded, emerging from the closet with some clothes in her hands.

Emily laughed, "What are you doing?"

"I told you, I'm packing." Paige said as if it was obvious, "Hey, where are we going?" Paige asked as she set the clothes down on the edge of the bed and looked down at them, studying what she had grabbed.

"I don't know Paige." Emily said as she watched Paige in amusement, "I hadn't gotten that far yet. It hasn't even been an hour since I asked if you wanted to go somewhere."

"Hmm alright, well when you figure it out let me know so I know what to pack." Paige said seriously.

"Babe stop." Emily said with a small laugh causing Paige to look up at her, "I get it, you're sorry."

"So sorry." Paige responded with a sad smile, "I know I've had some bad days recently and I'm sorry if I was a jerk on any of those days."

"I haven't exactly been perfect either, which is why I want to do this." Emily explained, "With the kids around all the time, it's hard to get alone time to talk things out or just sit with each other without any interruptions. A few days to just have some peace, just me and you, I think that's something we need."

Paige nodded along, "I agree and I want nothing more than to have a weekend away with you. Just like old times. And I think I know the perfect place for it."

"And where would that be?" Emily asked, her interest peaked.

"Nope. It's going to be a surprise."

"Paige." Emily whined, "How did this turn into a surprise for me? This whole thing was my idea."

Paige laughed, knowing Emily had grown to like surprises less and less as she got older, "Sorry Em, but I got something perfect and I mean I do have to make up for being a jerk remember? So just sit back and let me take care of everything."

Emily raised her eyebrow at Paige before letting out a sigh, "Fine."

"That's my girl." Paige said as she rested her hands on the bed and leaned over to press a quick kiss to Emily's lips before pulling back and looking down towards the clothes she had set out on the edge of the bed with a small frown, "I don't really have to pack right now, do I?" She asked looking back at Emily.

Emily laughed as she shook her head, knowing how much Paige hated having to pack for things, "No you don't."

"Thank you." Paige sighed out in relief, picking up the clothes on the bed and tossing them back into the closet before throwing herself on the bed next to Emily. "So do you forgive me for being a jerk downstairs?" Paige asked, propping her head up in her hand as she looked at Emily.

Emily nodded her head, letting her eyes drop to where Paige's hand was resting between their bodies. She reached down and intertwined their fingers loosely, "We're going to be okay right?" Emily asked softly as she continued to play with Paige's fingers gently.

"Yeah." Paige answered back in the same hushed tone, "Of course we are."

Emily nodded again, bringing her eyes up to meet Paige's, "I love you."

"I love you too." Paige said with a soft smile as she leaned forward and kissed Emily gently.

They pulled away for a moment, Emily moving her hand out of Paige's grasp and moving it to rest against the side of her neck, her thumb lightly brushing against Paige's jaw before moving back to connect their lips briefly. Paige let her hand wander to Emily's waist once she pulled away from the kiss and pulled her wife's body closer to herself, placing another kiss on the side of Emily's head. They laid there in each other's arms and watched tv for a while, it not taking very long for Emily to lose out to sleep.

Once Emily had been out for a while Paige slid out of her grasp and walked out of the room when she heard the girl's voices still downstairs. She stopped halfway down the stairs and looked out over the living room, seeing all three of her girls still sprawled out in the living room with each other, Kacey and Parker on the couch with Taylor sitting on the floor leaning her back against it. Paige couldn't tell what they were watching but they all seemed to be into it as they passionately discussed something she assumed was going on in whatever it was they were watching.

"Hey guys, time for bed." She called out over the rail, easily getting the attention of all three girls.

"Can we at least finish watching this?" Parker asked as she peaked over the top of the couch.

Paige glanced over at the clock, seeing it was way past Taylor's bedtime and while she knew Kacey and Parker would stay up longer even if she sent them to their room, she felt bad for making Taylor go upstairs while the other two got to stay down here. "No, you guys have school tomorrow and it's already late."

"Aww come on mom, there's only like twenty minutes left." Kacey said, throwing a pout in Paige's direction.

Paige made the mistake of taking a moment to let her eyes take in each one of the girl's faces, all three now throwing pouts over the edge of the couch. She never had expected herself to be the parent that couldn't say no, but damn had she fallen into the palms of those three girl's hands faster than she thought was possible.

She sighed as she tore her gaze away, to look up the stairs where she knew Emily was asleep before looking back at the girls, "Fine, but when you are all tired in the morning I don't want to hear it." She said sternly as she climbed down the rest of the stairs and leaned against the back of the couch where she was greeted with a handful of 'you're the bests' and 'I love yous'.

"Yeah, yeah. If you're mother asks, you all went to bed at a half decent time." Paige said, earning a small chorus of laughter.

"So is everything okay again?" Kacey asked, half paying attention to the tv screen, half paying attention to Paige.

"Yeah, everything's good." Paige responded truthfully, reaching over the back of the couch to ruffle Kacey's hair slightly.

"Wait you guys were fighting again?" Parker asked confused, never having noticed the small issue Paige and Emily had in the kitchen earlier.

"It wasn't really a fight," Paige said, "more of a little miscommunication. Just weren't really seeing eye to eye, but we're back on the same page now."

Parker shook her head, "God, you and mama's arguing and making up is giving me whiplash." She admitted in a teasing tone, although it wasn't far off from the truth.

"Well don't worry about that alright." Paige said, feeling bad that while her and Emily weren't necessarily fighting in front of their kids, it was more than clear that the kids noticed when things were off between them, "I'm sorry things haven't been running very smoothly around here. We're working on it and we're going to be fine."

Kacey and Parker nodded as they both looked over at Paige. "Shhhh…I wanna see the end." Taylor demanded as she turned and leaned her head back to glare at the three older people around her from her spot on the floor in front of the couch.

Paige did everything in her power to keep herself from laughing at the little girl's seriousness, biting her lip to hold the temptation. "Sorry kid." Parker said, letting out a small laugh as she turned her attention back to the tv.

Paige sat out in the living room with the girls until the show was over and then rushed to get Taylor into bed, along with the other two girls. By the time she had gotten everyone to bed and had said her goodnights she was exhausted, usually having been in bed and sleeping over an hour ago. She crept into her and Emily's room as quietly as she could, but as soon as her weight settled onto the bed Emily stirred next to her.

"Where have you been?" Emily asked groggily as she opened her eyes just enough to peak at the clock on the bedside table before turning to face Paige, "It's late."

"I know, sorry." Paige said guiltily, "I just got caught up in something downstairs."

"And were the kids by any chance part of this something?" Emily asked knowingly as she closed her eyes again.

"No?" Paige attempted pathetically.

Emily shook her head as she scooted closer to Paige, "You're so bad at saying no."

"I'm working on it." Paige stated quickly.

Emily nearly snorted at that, "No you're not." She said, "But that's fine. Just know tomorrow morning, they're all yours."

"What?" Paige asked already regretting letting the kids stay up, "This is a marriage, we're supposed to be a team Em. We're supposed to face the terror of our grumpy, tired children in the morning together."

"Keep talking and you're going to have to face tired, grumpy children and a tired, grumpy wife." Emily retorted.

Paige chuckled at her wife's response before kissing the top of her head, sinking down into the bed next to her, "Aright, alright. I got the hint, I'm shutting up."

Emily giggled into Paige's side, "Love you." She mumbled as Paige got comfortable.

Paige returned the 'I love you' and fell asleep almost instantly. The morning came far too fast and Emily held true to her statement that Paige was solely in charge of managing the kids this morning, which proved to be a bigger nightmare than she imagined. Especially when it came to Taylor, who had gotten way fewer hours of sleep than she was used to. They were slightly late to school but Paige counted it as a success based off how large of a struggle it turned out to be.

Due to the hectic morning and slight loss of sleep, the day dragged on but as she got closer to the end of the day Paige grew more and more excited for her small trip with Emily. She was looking forward to getting away and having some alone time with Emily. Even though the day dragged on while she was at work, once she got home and had to get ready to leave with Emily, time began to fly and before she knew it they were getting ready to leave.

"Girls!" Paige called out, trying to get the attention of her kids, "Can you all come to the kitchen please."

Paige and Emily waited patiently as the three girls filed into the kitchen at their own pace and plopped down in chairs at the table, looking up at their parents expectantly. "Alright so we're going to be going away for the weekend an-" Emily started but was cut off by Kacey.

"Where are we going?"

Emily shook her head, "Okay let me rephrase that. Me and your mom are going away for the weekend, and we're leaving you three here."

"Boooo." Taylor protested, cupping her hands around her mouth to be louder.

"Sorry munchkin but you're stuck with your sisters this weekend." Paige laughed when she received a small pout from the little girl.

"Where are you guys going?" Parker asked.

"She won't tell me." Emily answered, throwing a small pout at Paige herself.

"Okay enough with the pouting everyone." Paige said with a small laugh, "It's not important where we're going, but we're leaving tonight and then we won't be back until later in the day on Monday." Paige explained, earning understanding nods from her kids.

"You all know the rules when we're gone." Emily stated sternly, "Don't break them."

"No promises." Parker said with a smirk. Kacey smacked the older girl in the chest with the back of her hand, "Ow. What? I'm kidding."

"Alright, listen please." Paige said, regaining everyone's attention, "Taylor has a soccer game on Saturday. You two make sure she gets there on time and has everything she needs. And like your mom said, you all know the rules." Paige said receiving more nods, "There aren't a lot of them and they aren't very hard to follow. No parties or anything like that. No boys over. Or girls either now I guess." She said looking at Parker who nodded, "And really that's all. Don't kill each other and don't burn down the house, that's all I really ask from you."

Kacey looked over at Parker, bumping their shoulders while she laughed, "Can you manage that one Park?"

Paige shook her head while Taylor let out a loud laugh, "And definitely no pyrotechnics."

Emily looked over at Paige with furrowed eyebrows, "Okay, I don't feel like that's a rule we have to make. I think that one's just common sense."

"Oh you'd be surprised what we actually have to tell them not to do when we're gone."

"God you light one firework and no one ever lets you forget it."

"You lit it in the house."

"Okay first of all that's not true. I lit it on the patio and it happened to come into the house because the sliding glass door was open. Second of all I thought it was just a bottle rocket." Parker stated, as if it made it okay.

"Yeah but it wasn't." Kacey retorted.

"Well I didn't realize that until after it went off." Parker argued.

"You know there used to be a set of curtains on this sliding glass door." Kacey said throwing her thumb in the direction of the glass door behind them, ignoring Parker's protests, directing her attention to Emily.

"Umm no I didn't know that." Emily answered truthfully as she glanced over the girls to the sliding glass door momentarily.

"Yeah well that's because Parker set it on fire."

"I didn't set it on fire intentionally." Parker defended again.

"Why would you light a firework in the house?" Emily asked in disbelief.

"Seriously does anyone listen to me. It was lit on the patio." Parker responded pointedly, "And Taylor wanted to see what it did." She answered Emily's question casually with a shrug.

"I thought it was awesome!" Taylor claimed excitedly.

"Yeah that's because it was." Parker agreed just as enthusiastically, reaching across Kacey to high five the little girl, who returned it eagerly as they both laughed.

"Okay I'm going to be honest," Emily said quietly as she leaned towards Paige and observed the girls in front of her, "I wasn't nervous about leaving them here alone before, but I certainly am now."

Paige couldn't stop the laugh that came out of her as she saw the dead serious expression on Emily's face, "They'll be fine." She reassured.

"Yeah mama don't worry, we had everything under control." Parker said, waving Emily's concern off.

"Did we though?" Kacey pressed.

"I put the fire out didn't I?" Parker asked, "Plus you guys act like the entire side of the house went up in flames. It was a small fire that was put out fairly quickly. No big deal."

"You're going to leave her in charge?" Kacey asked in the same concern as Emily's voice was laced with moments ago, "Someone who literally lit the house on f-"

"Curtain." Parker corrected, "Not the house."

"Fine." Kacey said slightly irritated, "You're going to leave someone who lit the curtains on fire, which could have burned the house down, in charge?"

"She's been in charge every time we've left you guys and nothing bad has happened, so yes." Paige said, not understanding what the big deal was. Kacey never seemed to care that Parker was always left in charge.

"Ugh, whatever." Kacey grumbled out as she rolled her eyes.

"Oookay." Paige dragged out, still not sure what that was about, but continued on anyway, "So for the most part, just do your best to keep the house clean and don't get into any trouble." Paige stated, "It's really that simple."

"Don't worry mom, we can manage on our own." Parker reassured.

Emily and Paige nodded before excusing the girls, allowing them to go back to whatever they were doing previously. Emily and Paige finished up packing their things and rested a little before they called the kids back down to say their goodbyes for the weekend. They made their way outside once they were done and hopped into the SUV in the driveway. Paige quickly threw all of their things into the back of the car before backing out and driving away from the house.

"So you're really not going to tell me where we're going?" Emily asked about fifteen minutes into the drive, "Not even a hint?" Emily whined when Paige shook her head.

Paige laughed at her wife's likeness to an impatient kid at the moment before giving in, "Fine." She said, earning something close to a squeal of excitement from Emily, who shifted in the passenger seat to focus on Paige, "We're going somewhere where we've definitely spent a lot of our time."

Emily scrunched her face up a little in thought before letting it relax and looking over at Paige as she let out a groan, "That's it?" She asked, "That can be anywhere."

Paige shrugged, "Sorry, that's your hint."

"Yeah well it wasn't a very good one." Emily stated as she crossed her arms.

Paige laughed at the pout plastered on Emily's face, "You didn't ask for a good hint, you just asked for a hint." Paige retorted, to which Emily glared at her causing Paige to laugh again, "I promise, you won't be disappointed. I'm feeling pretty confident that you'll love it."

"I better love it." Emily teased as she messed with the radio dial, "How much farther is it?"

Paige glanced down at the clock to see how long they had been driving, "Probably only another forty-five minutes. It's just over an hour away from the house."

Emily nodded, glad it wasn't too far out of the way. The next forty-five minutes was filled with small talk, joking, and off tuned singing that filled the car. Emily hadn't been paying much attention to the surroundings outside of the car as it drove down the freeway, spending most of her time looking over to Paige as they talked and sang along to the radio. It wasn't until she heard Paige's blinker signaling that she was exiting the freeway that she shifted in her seat again and started to look out the window to see if she recognized where they were.

"No way." Emily said suddenly, to no one in particular, after a moment of letting her eyes study the view outside of the passenger window. She recognized the back roads that Paige was driving through immediately, having driven through them herself countless times.

She whipped her head over to look at Paige for conformation that they were going where she thought they were. The massive grin on Paige's face was conformation enough for Emily and she turned to look out the window again as they approached the property Emily was very familiar with.

Paige pulled up into a driveway and brought the car to a stop. Emily wasted no time, unbuckling her seatbelt, popping her door open and climbing out of the car. She shut her door slowly before taking a few steps towards the house in front of them.

"Paige." Emily murmured in awe as she let her eyes wander over the outside of the house. Noticing the slight changes that it had gone through over the years since she'd been there.

"Still as beautiful as ever isn't it?" Paige said as she watched Emily continue to stare at the house in awe.

Emily nodded her head absentmindedly, barely noticing Paige walking over to stand next to her, in front of the car. They stood there, side by side, for a moment before Emily spoke again, "Does Dave still own the place?" She asked as she leaned her back against the front of the car.

Paige shook her head softly when she felt Emily's eyes on her, "He umm…he passed away a while ago." Paige told Emily with a heavy heart, "Way back when Kacey and Parker were just kids."

"What happened?" Emily asked in a hushed tone after a moment, knowing it must've been hard for Paige at the time.

"Cancer." Paige sighed out.

Emily shook her head softly as she let her eyes flutter shut, doing her best to keep the watering of her eyes at bay. She couldn't imagine Dave going through that, she was almost glad she couldn't remember it happening to him. Emily let out a shaky breathe as she pulled herself together and looked over at Paige who was discreetly trying to wipe away at the few silent tears that had fallen down her face.

"So what about this place?" Emily asked as she nodded her head towards the house in front of them, figuring it was best to change the subject, "Are we even allowed to be here since it isn't Dave's anymore? We're not trespassing are we?" Emily teased as she let out a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Paige laughed softly with her as she pushed herself off the car and took a few steps closer to the house, "As far as I know you can't trespass on your own property." Paige said as she turned around to face Emily, who looked at Paige with furrowed brows.

"What?" She asked surprised.

Paige laughed at Emily's surprised face, "Come on you didn't really think Dave would give this place to anyone else did you?"

Emily let a wide grin spread across her face as her eyes danced over the house in a new kind of awe. Paige and her had stayed in this house plenty of times, but it had never been theirs. "I mean I guess I just never imagined this place without Dave, that's all."

Paige smiled sadly at Emily as she nodded in agreement as she glanced back at the house before shrugging, "Honestly that guy was a little crazy. I'm surprised he made it as long as he did." Paige stated, making Emily laugh.

"I remember the first time you told me about him," Emily said shaking her head as she smiled, "I thought he was crazy for giving you a job and I thought you were just as crazy for taking it."

"Best summer job ever." Paige stated dramatically… 

_"_ _Hey Emily?" Paige called out as she walked into their apartment._

 _"_ _In here." Emily called back._

 _Paige quickly made her way towards Emily's voice in excitement, "You'll never guess what happened."_

 _"_ _You got stuff to try to fix the sink in the bathroom like you were supposed to?" Emily asked as she got off of the bed and walked towards Paige grabbing the bag out of her hand._

 _"_ _No." Paige said before shaking her head, "Well I mean yeah I did get stuff to fix the sink but that's not what happened."_

 _Emily stood in front of Paige expectantly, waiting for her to tell her what happened, "You aren't really going to make me guess are you?"_

 _"_ _I met a guy." Paige exclaimed loudly, slightly startling Emily._

 _"_ _You met a guy?" Emily asked curiously, in which Paige nodded. "You're going to have to give me more than that Paige." Emily stated when Paige just stood in front of her._

 _"_ _He gave me a job."_

 _"_ _A guy at the hardware store gave you a job?" Emily asked, fully confused at this point._

 _"_ _Yeah I ran into him in the store and we got to talking. He told me about this house he had just bought that he was going to fix up and that he could use some help with it if I was interested." Paige explained, "And since I was going to start looking for a job anyways I thought it'd be perfect, so he gave me his number and I'm going to give him a call tomorrow so we can figure out a schedule for working on the house that works for both of us."_

 _Emily looked at Paige in disbelief, "Paige, you're not serious right?" She asked before she walked past Paige and over into the small kitchen._

 _Paige followed behind her, brows furrowed in confusion, "What? Yeah, it'd be an awesome summer job. I mean I doubt he'll be able to pay me very much but I'd rather spend my summer re-building a house with this guy than spend it as a waitress or something like that."_

 _"_ _You have no clue how to build a house babe." Emily reminded Paige as she laughed._

 _"_ _Yeah well I can learn." Paige retorted seriously._

 _"_ _Does he know you're planning on learning when you get there or does he think you know what you're doing?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow, truly curious at this point._

 _Paige looked up in thought. She could've sworn she let the guy know she had never exactly built a house before but now that she thought about it maybe she had forgotten to mention that part and the man was just under the impression that she knew what she was doing._

 _"_ _I think he knows?" Paige stated, it coming out more so of a question than an answer, "Even if he doesn't, how hard could it really be."_

 _Emily shook her head in amusement, "Is this even legit Paige?" Emily asked a little concerned, "I mean a stranger asking you to help him re-build his house at the hardware store seems a little weird doesn't it?"_

 _"_ _Come on Em, he was a really nice guy. Plus he gave me a card." Paige said reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a small card before handing it to Emily._

 _Emily let her eyes scan over the small card, "David Parker." She read over the small print, "Paige this guy's a lawyer." She said after studying the card._

 _"_ _Retired lawyer." Paige corrected, remembering that from her conversation with the man from the store, "He said he wanted to get out there and live life a little." Paige explained, "He said he'd been cooped up in lecture halls, dorm rooms studying, and court rooms for far too long."_

 _"_ _I don't know about this Paige." Emily said, still warry to the idea._

 _"_ _What do you think he's going to do Emily? Ax murder me the first day on the job?" Paige teased as she threaded her arms around Emily's waist._

 _"_ _Maybe." Emily said, "And he's a lawyer so he probably knows how to get away with it in court." She suggested holding the small card up the best she could while she was wrapped up in Paige's arm to prove her point._

 _Paige leaned her head back and laughed, earning a light smack to the chest from Emily. Paige looked back at Emily, leaning her forehead against her girlfriends, "Let me go one day and if it's sketchy then I won't go back, okay? I'm pretty sure he just wants some help so he doesn't have to do it himself. I promise he won't murder me."_

 _"_ _And if he does?" Emily asked in a hushed tone._

 _"_ _Well then as usual, you'll be right." Paige responded teasingly again, "And hey I'll be dead so I won't have to listen to you brag about being right. It's a win, win situation in my eyes." Paige joked, earning a shove from Emily as they both broke out into laughter._

 _"_ _Fine you can go." Emily said._

 _Paige smiled wide in excitement, "Aw man this is going to be the best summer ever. I'm going to re-build a freaking house." Paige said leaning in and pushing her lips against Emily's for a long moment._

 _"_ _Alright handyman, slow down and try to fix the sink first okay?" Emily said as she patted Paige's chest and pulled away, giggling at Paige's excitement._

 _"_ _You got it babe." Paige said dropping one last kiss to Emily's lips before grabbing the bag from the hardware store off the counter where Emily had set it and carrying it over to the bathroom._

 _Emily shook her head, a small smile still resting on her face as she watched Paige walk out of the room. She glanced back down at the card that was still in her hand before tossing it onto the kitchen counter with a sigh and walking towards the bathroom where she knew Paige had no clue what she was doing. There was no way she was going to let Paige flood the bathroom, trying to prove something…._

"Bet you're glad I took that job after all." Paige said, "You got a beautiful little house out of it." Paige stated dramatically as she patted the house with the palm of her hand a few times, "We built this baby with our own bare hands."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Alright handyman."

"Don't pretend you didn't love seeing me in work mode." Paige challenged as she walked over to Emily and slid her arms around her waist, "If I remember correctly you loved watching me work that summer." Paige reminded Emily, "That tool belt really did it for you."

Emily laughed lightly at the memories of that summer. As much as she hated to admit it, Paige was right. Watching her work on the house in the heat of the summer. Tool belt loosely hanging off her hips as she worked. Tank top and shorts exposing most of her skin and a thin sheet of sweat covering that exposed skin. It worked for Paige. And by the many winks Paige had sent her way that summer whenever she had caught Emily staring at her as she watched her and Dave re-build the house in front of them proved that Paige was well aware that it worked for her.

She let her mind wander to simpler times filled with long summer days of hanging out with Paige and Dave as they re-built the house, Emily even jumping in to help when she could, all three spending more time messing around than actually working. And long summer nights when Dave would return to his home a few miles away, leaving Emily and Paige to lose themselves in each other at the secluded property that they quickly grew to love.

"It did work for you." Emily said in agreement, pulling herself out of her own thoughts.

"Yeah it did." Paige said cockily as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Emily.

Emily laughed again before wrapping her arms around Paige's shoulders and leaning in to close the small gap between them, taking Paige's bottom lip into her mouth and sucking on it gently. Paige hummed into the kiss as she tightened her grip around Emily's waist, groaning when Emily slightly pulled back before she could deepen it.

"Can we go in now?" Emily asked, slightly bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly.

Paige smiled at her as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, holding it up in front of Emily's face, "She's all yours."

Emily snatched the key and grabbed Paige's hand before excitedly jogging towards the front door, pulling Paige with her. She fumbled with the key for a moment before she got it into the keyhole and unlocked the door. She walked in and while the place didn't look exactly as she remembered, it was fairly close and a wave of memories came over her as she stood silently, only making it a few steps into the house. Paige let Emily take in the house, just happy that she seemed to be enjoying it.

"So I'm going to assume that my surprise turned out to be a good one this time." Paige said, not being able to stop the smile already on her face from growing.

"The best." Emily answered simply, turning to peck Paige's lips.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Wow, okay super sorry about that wait. Long story short my router shut down so I haven't had the internet for about a week and therefore no way to post this. But everything's back up and running now so we're all good. Also since I've been done with this chapter for a week already, the next one is already started and well on its way so hopefully it won't take me to long to finish that and get it up. Anyways I just wanted to get the chapter up as fast as possible so I didn't go back and read through it, so sorry for any mistakes that I may have made. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy :)**

"I'm going to run and grab all our stuff out of the car real quick, okay." Paige said, throwing her thumb over her shoulder towards the front door.

Emily made a move to walk towards Paige, "I'll help you." She said but was stopped quickly by Paige.

"No, it's fine. I got it, you can look around or whatever. The fridge is stalked with stuff too so if you're hungry or anything, go for it." Paige said with a smile before heading out to the car.

Emily nodded her head even though Paige was already out the front door and far out of sight. She sighed and then turned back to face the living room, smiling at some of the familiar items that had been here since her and Paige were in college. She wandered around for a few minutes, hearing Paige caring their things up and dropping them on the front porch before assumingly heading back to the car.

It didn't take long before a few framed photos spread out on the shelves of the entertainment center caught her attention. She walked over and stopped in front of it, picking up the first framed picture she saw. A large smile spread across her face as she recognized it as a picture she had taken a long time ago. It was one of Paige and Dave a few weeks after they had started rebuilding the house that she was currently standing in. She smiled at it for a moment before she gently set it down where she had picked it up from and moved on to the next one.

She was surprised to find what appeared to be a family photo that she had never seen of her and Paige with their three girls. Parker was happily sitting on Emily's lap leaning towards the camera, Emily's arm wrapped around her waist keeping her in place as the small brunette stuck her tongue out at the camera, Emily laughing behind her. Kacey was seated on the opposite end of the frame on Paige's lap, smiling widely at the camera as Paige's face contorted into a funny face directed at the camera, one arm tightly wrapped around Kacey while the other helped steady a very young Taylor who was standing between the other four in the picture. Taylor letting out a laugh, her face fully focused on Paige's, clearly amused.

Emily continued to let her eyes roam around the picture, not noticing the tears that slowly rolled down her face until one dropped onto the glass of the frame. She quickly wiped at her face and then at the single drop on the frame, drying them both the best she could.

"Okay I think I got everything." Paige said coming back into the room, dropping the bags just inside the door and staring down at them, "Seriously though Em how much stuff do you need, we're only here for a few days, there's no way you're going to need all of th-" Paige stopped mid-sentence when she finally looked up and saw Emily crying, "What's wrong?"

Emily shook her head as she sniffled, doing her best to clear her nose as she started to feel like she couldn't breathe. Paige's eyes moved to the frame in Emily's hand but couldn't make out what picture it contained or figure out why a picture would upset her, "Why are you crying?" Paige asked softly, not knowing what was going on.

"Do you know how frustrating it is?" Emily snapped as she turned to face a surprised Paige, whose eyes were now wide. Emily dropped her hands to her side and took in a shaky breath as she tried to keep her emotions under control, not wanting to start their trip of like this, "It's just-" She shook her head slightly not knowing how to explain what she was feeling.

Paige took a hesitant step forward not sure if Emily was mad at her or not. She looked at Emily sympathetically, "It's okay Em." She reassured despite being lost on what cause Emily to suddenly become so upset.

Emily shook her head again as she let her eyes drift back to the framed photo in her hand that set her off in the first place, "It's not okay Paige. It's not okay with me when I look at a picture of my own kids and don't remember them ever being that age." She stated, feeling completely defeated as she set it back on the shelf.

Paige dropped her head not knowing how she was supposed to respond to something like that. So instead of saying something right away she closed the distance between her and her wife, wrapping her arms around her. Emily immediately snaked her arms loosely around Paige's waist and cried into her shoulder as Paige rubbed circles around her lower back, doing her best to calm Emily down.

Once Emily's loud sobs had turned into nothing but soft whimpers and sniffling, Paige dropped a light kiss to the top of Emily's head, "That's why I brought you here Emily. We spent so much time here together and with the kids when they were little." Paige explained, "This place is a huge part of us, I thought maybe it'd help. You know, being here again in a place that you remember might bring up some memories that happened here that you don't remember."

Paige felt Emily nod against her chest, which Emily's face was still buried in as she continued to calm her breathing the best she could. "Why don't we call it a night early, huh?" Paige suggested, "We can get a good night's rest and tomorrow will be a new day alright." She encouraged as she loosened her grip on her wife, pulling away enough to see her face.

Emily nodded again not saying anything as she ran the back of her hand across her eyes to wipe the tracks of her tears. Paige helped her out, pulling her own jacket sleeve over her hand before lifting it to wipe at Emily's cheeks herself. When Emily's face was dry, Paige placed a light kiss on her cheek, giving her a soft smile before grabbing Emily's hand and leading her back to the master bedroom.

"I'm sorry." Emily choked out softly as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Paige shot her wife a sad smile, "Don't be." She said, "I know it's hard for you, as much as you try to hide it from everyone."

Emily nodded, keeping her head down, avoiding having to look at Paige. It didn't always bug her not remembering everything. For the most part she felt pretty good about how she was recovering. She was able to place together quite a few things from what everyone else had told her and even things like Rachel were coming back to her once she was reminded of situations or small pieces of the life she couldn't fully remember.

She noticed that it was much easier now for something to spark her memory than it had been back when she first came out of her coma and she was really pleased with that. But it was still hard for her to deal with, especially when something came up that she wanted to remember but couldn't if her life depended on it. And the one thing that she was finding hardest to remember, was the one thing that she really wanted to. Her kids growing up.

She felt her eyes tearing up again as she thought about all the things she had missed because she simply couldn't remember them and not because she wasn't there for it all, because she was. She wanted to remember how it felt to bring them all home when they were newborns, or their first steps, how exciting it all must have been for her and Paige. She remembers late nights in their small college apartment talking about having a life together, filled with kids and all of the things they have now. It all worked out for them and things would be absolutely perfect, if she hadn't had gotten in that accident.

"Here." Paige said softly, taking Emily out of her thoughts.

Emily looked down next to her and saw a pair of sweats and a t-shirt next to her, "Thanks." She managed to mumble out, earning a nod from Paige. She stood up and slipped out of her clothes, quickly getting redressed before slipping under the covers.

Paige disappeared for a little while before returning a few minutes later with a glass of water, setting it down on the nightstand next to Emily. Emily smiled at Paige as a 'thank you,' leaving the water untouched though as she wrapped the blankets tighter around herself and buried herself a little deeper into them. She watched quietly as Paige move around the dark room, changing into something more comfortable before slipping into bed behind Emily.

Emily could feel Paige shuffle into her spot before the bed became completely still. Emily immediately knew that Paige was deciding whether or not she should cuddle up to her. She could practically hear the gears turning in her wife's head. Paige was never good at not overthinking things when it came to Emily and it was clear to Emily that even though many years had gone by, she hadn't gotten rid of the habit.

So instead of letting her suffer behind her, already feeling guilty enough for having some sort of mini breakdown tonight, Emily turned her body to face Paige and shifted closer to her, nuzzling her head into Paige's chest. She felt a small weight lift off her shoulders as Paige's arms came to hang over her body comfortably.

Paige's fingers scratching lightly over her back helped her relax instantly and it didn't take long before she fell asleep. Paige found sleep to be a little harder to fall into, due to her worry over Emily but she eventually was able to fall asleep not too far behind Emily. Paige woke up the next morning much earlier than Emily had but instead of waking her wife she decided to just stay in bed with her while she slept.

Emily started shifting in her spot next to Paige as she began to wake up. She was surprised when she instantly heard Paige's voice upon waking up, "Hey," Paige whispered to get Emily's attention, who dropped her head to the side to look at Paige, "Do you hear that?" Paige asked with a small smirk as she watched Emily's eyes furrow, "It's almost 10 a.m. and nothing. Absolute silence."

Emily let out a laugh as she curled onto her side, burying her head into her pillow before closing her eyes in peace, letting out a hum of approval, "It's a miracle." She agreed, "Something I could definitely get used to." She stated, not missing Parker's loud morning routine or Taylor bursting into their room early in the morning usually pulling them out of their sleep on the weekends.

Paige laughed as she sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bed, "Don't get to use to it, we eventually have to return to all three of our needy, loud kids."

The shifting on the bed caused Emily to open her eyes and peak over at Paige who was running her hand through her hair, still sitting on the side of the bed as she stretched her arms out, "Where are you going?" Emily whined. With having kids they hardly ever got to just sit in bed and relax in the mornings and she didn't want to get up just yet.

Paige looked over her shoulder and smiled down at Emily, "I'm hungry." She stated simply, "Unlike someone, I've been up for a while now and my stomach is going to start eating itself soon if I don't feed it something."

Emily rolled her eyes playfully before sitting up and scooting over to Paige, draping her arms around her wife's shoulders, "Come on, just a little longer." Emily tried, pulling herself onto her knees before leaning her front against Paige's back and dropping light kisses into the valley of her neck.

When Paige leaned back into her wife's embrace, she could feel Emily's mouth turn up into a smile against her skin. "Well someone's feeling much better this morning." Paige pointed out as she tilted her head to the side, giving in and allowing Emily better access to her neck.

"Mhm." Emily hummed against the curve of Paige's neck as she let her fingers slip into the collar of Paige's loose fitting t-shirt and tugging on it, sucking and nipping on as much skin as the shirt would allow her to expose.

"You wanna talk about it?" Paige managed to mumble out, referring to the night before, as Emily grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her body to turn before pushing her torso back down onto the bed gently, swinging her leg over Paige to straddle her.

"Uh-uh." Emily breathed out immediately, gripping the bottom of Paige's shirt and separating her lips from the skin of her wife's collar bone just long enough to pull the piece of clothing up and over Paige's head.

"Are you sure?" Paige asked again causing Emily to groan in frustration.

"Really?" She asked slightly annoyed as she pulled away, sitting up and letting her weight fall down onto Paige's lap. When she pulled away from Paige though she had to do her best to keep a serious face and not laugh at the look on Paige's face. The woman shot up to rest her weight on her forearms and looked surprised at Emily's response but by her hooded eyes and the way she was breathing, it was clear that she was turned on.

Emily knew Paige was just making sure she was okay and wasn't still upset or suppressing whatever sort of small breakdown she had last night but Emily had other things, more important things, on her mind at this particular moment, "All I want is for you to stop talking." Emily informed Paige, who quickly nodded in response.

"Right. Sorry, of course." Paige mumbled out quickly, her words stringing together. She immediately shifted off of her forearms and dropped back down onto the mattress looking up at Emily before gesturing to herself, "Please continue to have your way with me."

Emily shook her head and let out a small laugh, which caused Paige to send a wink at her, "God, you have no game at all."

Paige's smirk quickly dropped and she looked at Emily like she was crazy, "Excuse you." She said mocking offense, "If I don't have any game then how could've I landed a girl so far out of my league like you, huh?"

"Don't sell yourself short." Emily told Paige, "I'm not that far out of your league."

"So you are out of my league then?" Paige asked, a small smirk returning to her face, "So you're admitting that I have to have some sort of game then?"

Emily shook her head as she mocked sympathy, "Oh no, definitely not. You just got lucky that I found your lack of game cute and endearing."

Paige wiggled her eyebrows at Emily suggestive, "So you think I'm cute huh?" She teased.

Emily just laughed before leaning down and pecking Paige on the lips softly, "Yeah, I do." She whispered onto Paige's lips lightly before reconnecting their lips in a soft passionate kiss. Emily was slightly caught off guards when Paige's hands gripped her body and quickly flipped them over so Paige was now hovering over her, her lips immediately falling to suck lightly on Emily's pulse point, drawing out a small moan.

"So much game McCullers." Paige whispered to herself in the crook of Emily's neck, loud enough to make sure Emily could hear her.

Emily couldn't help the snort that came out of her mouth, which in turn caused Paige to laugh, collapsing all her weight onto Emily, who lightly shoved her wife off of her. "You're killing the mood." Emily stated sitting up, her laughs dying down, along with Paige's.

"Does this mean I can go eat breakfast then?" Paige asked teasingly.

"Go." Emily huffed out, gesturing towards the bedroom door.

Paige rolled off of her back and pulled herself up enough to kiss Emily deeply, "I love you." She stated sweetly before standing up and picking her shirt up off the floor, quickly slipping it on. "You can hop in the shower if you want to while I start breakfast. The water pressure is to die for and I guarantee you couldn't run out of hot water if you tried."

Emily raised her eyebrow intrigued, "A shower that I don't have to worry about running out of hot water?" She asked as if it was completely impossible. With five people under the same roof sometimes you really had to fight for warm water. "This get away just keeps getting better and better." She stated, scooting herself off of the bed and slipping her shirt off over her head.

Paige's eyes dropped to the other woman's bare chest and although she had seen it a million times, it never failed to gain her full attention. She licked her lips subconsciously as Emily closed the distance between them, draping her arms loosely around Paige's shoulders and pulling her in for one more kiss. When she went to pull away, Paige's grip tightened around her waist not allowing her to move, the brunette quickly going in for another kiss.

Emily kissed her back for a moment before pulling away abruptly, catching Paige off guard and slipping out of her hold easily. Paige gawked at her, questioning why she pulled away, "You already had your chance McCullers, should've taken it." Emily teased, winking over her shoulder at her wife as she walked into the bathroom.

Emily let out a small laugh when she heard Paige groan on the other side of the door before leaving the room. She showered quickly and threw on a pair of shorts and one of Paige's old sweatshirts before slipping out of the room and making her way down the hallway towards the kitchen.

She didn't make it far before she stopped when a mark on the edge of what she assumed to be a small hall closet caught her eye. She couldn't help the small smile that grazed her lips as she ran her fingers over the lines that had been marked up the wood, initials in sloppy writing placed carefully next to each line.

"That one was all your idea."

Emily glanced over at Paige before refocusing on the markings, bending down slightly to see the ones a little farther down, "yeah?"

"Mhm," Paige hummed in response, "You said your dad used to do it for you when you were a kid and you loved it, so you thought it would be cool to kind of keep the tradition going." She explained, stepping further into the hallway and leaning against the wall as she watched Emily stare at the height chart on the wall in awe, "Although you shouldn't really trust Parker's lines, she always made herself taller than she really was." Paige said with a slight shake of her head as she smiled at the memories.

Emily let out a laugh, "Why am I not surprised."

"Kacey always tried to keep her honest but Parker was never one for rules." Paige told Emily, "Not now, not then."

"God I can't believe they were this small." Emily admitted as she stood next to some of the lower lines and tried to imagine much smaller versions of her kids. Nowadays Parker was slightly taller than her and Kacey was about the same size as her, even Taylor was much taller now than the few marks of hers on the wall, so it was hard for her to imagine but she tried anyway.

Paige turned around and walked back to the kitchen, giving Emily some space and time to explore a little more if she wanted to. After a little while Emily entered the kitchen to find Paige flipping pancakes, "Do you know how to cook anything else?" Emily teased as she sat at the counter.

Paige looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at Emily, earning a laugh, "I'm used to making them on the weekend for the kids." Paige defended herself, "Question my cooking skills again and you won't get any pancakes." The brunette stated as she shot Emily a warning look, pointing at her with the spatula in her hand.

Emily pinched her lips together as she put her hands up in defense. Paige smiled as she shook her head before returning her attention back to the stove, taking a few more minutes to finish up breakfast. Once she was done she carried the stack of pancakes over to Emily and dropped it down on the counter along with two plates before sitting in the stool next to Emily's and digging in.

"Thank you." Emily said as she plated her food.

"Of course." Paige mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"So what are we doing today?" Emily asked curiously.

"Well we could do whatever you want," Paige said as she stood from her stool and quickly walked over to the living room, "But I thought since you were upset yesterday about the kids and not really remembering a lot of their childhood, I thought we could look through some stuff," Paige said as she returned to the kitchen and dropped her laptop down in front of them, "I mean if you want to. I have a bunch of pictures and some home movies. Stuff like that." Paige said with a shrug.

The way Emily's eyes lit up gave Paige her answer immediately which caused her to laugh at the pure excitement on her wife's face, "I'm going to take that as a yes." Paige said.

"Please." Emily said with a huge grin as she pushed her now forgotten breakfast aside and pulled the laptop closer to her, opening it quickly.

 **[][][][][][][][][]**

"Kacey come on we're going to be late." Parker shouted as she walked down the hall and into their bedroom, where she found Kacey sitting in her bed.

"I'm really not feeling that well Parker." Kacey said as she rubbed her face before looking up at Parker, who was standing in the doorway, "I think I'm just going to stay here and try to get some rest."

Parker looked at the girl curiously, Kacey not having said anything about not feeling good throughout the entire day, "What's wrong with you?" She asked worriedly, walking over to stand by the side of Kacey's bed.

Kacey shook her head and gave Parker a soft smile, "Nothing, I just have a headache and I just want to sleep it off." Parker eyed her little sister for a moment before nodding her head, "I'll be fine here, I promise." Kacey said as she laid back down and buried her head into her pillow.

"Alright, well call me if you need anything okay." Parker said as she backed out of the room, "We'll probably only be gone for a couple hours. I'm probably going to stop and pick up some food on the way home so I'll give you a call when we're done."

Kacey nodded as she peaked at her older sister from her spot on the bed. Parker said a quick 'bye' before running downstairs to make sure Taylor was ready, "Got everything?" She asked the little girl who was sitting on the couch pulling on her socks.

"Yep." Taylor yelled as she jumped up off the couch with one sock on, the other in her hand, and ran over to the garage, Parker following behind her. Parker grabbed her sister's soccer bag off the garage floor and tossed it on the floor in front of the passenger seat before letting Taylor hop up into the truck.

Parker walked around the truck to her side and climbed in quickly, "Got your shoes?" She asked as she started the truck and looked over at Taylor who was pulling on her other sock.

Taylor stopped, her sock only half up way on her foot. She reached down for her bag and opened it pulling out both cleats before holding them up for Parker to see, "Got 'em."

"Alright, let's get out of here then." She said pulling out of the garage and driving towards the soccer field. To both of their surprise they got to the soccer field fairly early. Taylor hopped out of the truck and excitedly ran over to a few of the other little girls on her soccer team that were waiting for everyone to show up for the game. After about half an hour Taylor came running over to Parker, "I left my shin guards at home." She rushed out in a panic.

"Do you really need them Tay?" Parker sighed looking down at the girl, not really wanting to drive all the way back home, "I'm sure you'll be fine without them for just one game."

Taylor looked up at Parker with a quivering lip, "I need them." She said quietly as she dropped her head down.

Parker kneeled down in front of Taylor and shook her head, a small smile grazing her lips, "Wow you're getting WAY to good at that." She said reaching out and wiggling her fingers against Taylor's stomach tickling the girl lightly, sending her into a fit of laughter.

"So you'll go get them for me?" She asked hopefully.

Parker nodded, "Of course. Do you know where you left them?"

Taylor looked up in thought for a moment before responding, "I think they're in my room." She guessed, not really sure.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Parker said, earning a nod from Taylor who turned and ran back over to her team. She quickly asked one of the other kid's mom to keep an eye on Taylor while she was gone before sending a quick text to Kacey to let her know she was coming back to the house as she rushed over to her truck and headed home.

Parker made it back as quickly as she could, jumping out of the truck and jogging through the house and upstairs to Taylor's room, trying to be as quiet as she could, figuring Kacey must've been asleep since she never answered her text. She eventually found Taylor's shin guards and slipped out of the room quietly and moved quickly down the hallway. Stopping in her tracks when she passed her own bedroom door, hearing what was the last thing she was expecting.

She tossed the shin guards towards the stairs and turned around to open her and Kacey's bedroom door. "Oh my God." Parker said as she closed her eyes tightly and covered her face in her hands, blocking the heap of limbs on Kacey's bed from her eyes. She ran her hands down her face before pinching the bridge of her nose as she did her best not to completely freak out.

"Parker, what are you doing here?" Kacey asked clearly caught off guard.

"Taylor forgot her shin guards." Parker informed her, finally looking at her little sister, "What the hell Kacey, I haven't even been gone for an hour." Parker yelled in disbelief as her eyes drifted to the boy who was still laying half on top of Kacey, "Dude, get the hell off of her!" Parker yelled, taking a step towards the bed.

The boy shifted over, sliding completely off of Kacey, sitting awkwardly with his feet hanging off the side of the bed clearly not knowing what to do. "Get up!" Parker demanded, "All the way off the bed." Parker instructed, the boy not understanding how mad she really was.

The boy quickly stood up, "Who are you?" Parker asked in annoyance, glaring at the boy across from her.

Kacey shook her head as she sat up against her headboard and ran her fingers through her hair, not allowing the boy to answer Parker's question, "Parker relax, he's one of my friends." She sighed out as she dropped her head slightly, knowing that Parker was going to freak out if he didn't get out of here immediately.

Parker looked over at Kacey in disapproval, "He better be a hell of a lot more than a friend if I walk in and find him on top of you like that." She stated before returning her glare to the boy, who clearly didn't want anything to do with Parker as he saw the look of rage on the brunettes face. Parker walked over to him, grabbing him by the ear and twisting it causing the boy to slump over in pain. "Come on Parker, let go of him." Kacey tried, sliding off the bed and grabbing Parker's arm.

Parker shoved the boy's head towards the bedroom door and then turned around quickly, snatching her arm back out of Kacey's grip, "What the hell were you doing Kacey?" Parker asked angrily.

"Nothing." She responded as she dropped her head, "We were just hanging out."

"Hanging out?" Parker asked sarcastically as her eyes widened, "That. That was not hanging out." Parker shook her head, trying to calm down, but she was finding it very difficult at the moment. Finding Kacey under a boy was the last thing she had expected to find and it didn't sit well with her at all. She glanced over her shoulder at the boy when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I-I was just going to get my shirt." He said timidly, obviously afraid, "I really should go so..." He said gesturing to his shirt.

He made movement towards the shirt on the floor again but Parker stopped him, "It's mine now. Get out of my house."

"Parker." Kacey sighed out, "Calm down."

"This is me calm!" Parker yelled in response.

Kacey sighed again, "Just go." She told the boy on the other side of the room, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration before taking a deep breath and shooting him an apologetic look, "I'll give it to you next time I see you." She promised.

The boy nodded, finding it to be a good enough deal. He quickly made his way out of the room, both girls in the room standing in silence until they heard the front door open and close loudly, "I can't believe you." Parker said, a little calmer now that it was just her and Kacey.

Kacey rolled her eyes, which caused Parker to furrow her eyebrows, not used to Kacey acting like this. "Whatever." Kacey grumbled under her breath, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

Parker stood there not sure how to approach this, "Whatever?" She questioned, "I walk in on some boy grinding on you and all you have to say to me is whatever?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you." Kacey sassed back.

"Umm no, I feel like you do." Parker stated, "You don't even have a boyfriend Kacey, so what? You're just giving it up to random guys now. Seriously Kace, that's not you."

"Are you kidding me Parker!" Kacey yelled, letting her anger out, "Of course I don't have a boyfriend. I can barely get a boy to talk to me in any sort of a romantic way because they're all scared of you."

"Good." Parker mumbled under her breathe.

"No, not good." Kacey stated, catching the quiet response, "You've had sex, you've dated people, why are you allowed to but when it comes to me it's like I'm committing some sort of crime."

"Because I'm not having sex with random guys who mean nothing to me." Parker said, getting agitated again, "And you definitely don't be needing to."

"He wasn't some random guy," Kacey argued back weakly.

"Kacey come on, we both know that that guy means nothing to you. Maybe you know him but there's no point in trying to convince me that you love that guy, I know you don't."

"Oh so you love Brooke then?" Kacey asked with a little attitude.

"What?" Parker asked caught off guard, not understanding what that had to do with anything.

"You said that I don't love the guy, so I'm just assuming here that that's the standard for me to be sleeping with someone" Kacey explained, "Love. Therefore, I can safely assume you love Brooke." She said, trying to get a rise out of her sister.

Parker stared at her sister briefly before shaking her head, "No no no, we're not doing that. We're not turning this around and making it a thing about me. Absolutely not."

Kacey shrugged innocently, "I think it's fair. You're the one who wants to talk about this and set rules on what I can and can't do. It's only fair if they apply to you too. So if I owe you an explanation for what I'm doing, then I'd like one from you as well."

"I don't have time for this," Parker said as she made her way out of the room, "Put on a shirt for Christ's sake and meet me in the truck." She hollered over her shoulder as she made her way downstairs.

"I told you I don't want to go." Kacey shouted back.

"Now Kacey!" Parker yelled, "Do not make me forcibly remove you from this house because I swear to god Kacey I will. If you think I'm leaving you here alone with your little boyfriend lurking around, you're crazy."

Kacey groaned before complying, knowing that it was probably best just to not piss Parker off further at this point. She quickly threw on a t-shirt and some shoes before dragging herself downstairs and out to the truck in the driveway where Parker was impatiently waiting. She got in the truck and rolled her eyes when she heard Parker mumbling curse words, most likely at her, under her breath.

"We'll definitely be talking about this later when we get home." Parker said, clearly still worked up about it although she was trying to keep herself under control.

"God what are you my mom." Kacey retorted, annoyed with the way Parker was acting.

Parker scoffed in disbelief, "No but if you'd like, I will gladly call them and let them know what I just walked in on."

"Since when am I not allowed to make out with people?"

"Since you were doing it while horizontal on a bed with no shirt on." Parker simply argued.

 **[][][][][][][][][]**

"Hey I think I remember this one." Emily said in a hushed tone as she reached out to stop Paige's hand from going on to the next picture.

"Really?" Paige asked, kind of surprised by Emily's sudden admittance. They had been looking at pictures for a while and while Emily had been enjoying the process, nothing had really sparked anything in her yet. Emily nodded as she continued to study the picture on the screen silently, "Tell me about it." Paige said, catching Emily off guard.

"What?" Emily asked, looking over at Paige who shrugged.

"You said you remembered it, didn't you." Paige stated.

"Y-yeah but-"

"But nothing. Come on Em, you can do it." Paige encouraged, "It wouldn't hurt to try right? Just look at the picture and tell me what you remember about it and if you can't or you're wrong, that's fine. But maybe it'll help you to talk through it."

Emily nodded hesitantly after a moment, finally moving her eyes from Paige's and looking back at the screen, "Well we're clearly at the lake." Emily said, pointing to the sliver of water in the background, "It's the one just up the street from here. Kacey didn't want to go in the water...

 _"_ _Well there's no way that's happening." Paige stated confidently as she walked up to Emily, the little girl in her arms reaching out to the other woman._

 _"_ _Why, what's wrong?" She asked, standing up from her spot in a lawn chair, allowing Kacey to wrap her arms around her neck before easily lifting her out of Paige's arms._

 _"_ _I don't know, but she completely refuses to get in the water." Paige said._

 _"_ _What's wrong baby?" Emily asked Kacey as she sat back down and settled the girl in her lap._

 _Kacey simply shook her head, "I don't wanna go in."_

 _"_ _Yeah? Why not?" Emily asked softly, readjusting the towel loosely thrown over the little girl's shoulders._

 _Kacey simply whined and buried her head in Emily's neck, not supplying much of an answer. Emily sighed before looking at Paige for any type of explanation of the newly found dislike the girl in her arms had to the lake. "She didn't say anything when you tried to get her to go in?" Emily asked, bouncing the girl lightly in her lap._

 _Paige glanced over her shoulder at Parker, who was still splashing around in the water_ _behind them, "There may or may not have been stories of a lake monster going around a camp fire last night." Paige stated, shrugging it off as she turned back to look at Emily, "She now wants nothing to do with the lake."_

 _Emily looked down at Kacey who had her head rested on her shoulder, fully contempt in the safety of Emily's arm. Emily sighed, looking back at Paige disapprovingly, "Why would you tell her that?"_

 _"_ _Technically I didn't tell her that. I was joking around with Parker last night when we went down to the dock." Paige explained, "I didn't think it would scare Kacey." Paige admitted, slightly defensive._

 _Emily rolled her eyes, "She's five."_

 _"_ _Fine, fine. My bad." Paige apologized, "I'm sorry Kace, there are definitely no lake monsters or sharks or anything in that water. I promise." She said, reaching out and softly brushing some of the little girl's hair back._

 _Kacey shook her head unconvinced causing Emily to let out a small laugh, "Come on," Emily said, standing up and shifting Kacey on her side before walking the short distance towards the lake, "We don't have to go in if you don't want to, we'll sit on the dock okay?" Emily suggested softy._

 _Kacey loosened her grip on Emily and nodded, pleased with that, "'kay." She responded shortly, turning her head to glance at Parker looking over at them._

 _"_ _Mommy." Parker yelled excitedly from the lake, when Paige walked back onto the small dock with Emily and Kacey._

 _"_ _Glad to see nothing got you squirt." Paige joked causing the brunette in the water to squeal in happiness, but earning a smack to the chest from Emily, "Ow, sorry." Paige said putting her hands up in defense as Emily gently crouched down with Kacey and sat on the side of the dock, letting her feet hang over the edge._

 _Kacey's grip on her mother tightened as she squirmed in Emily's lap, attempting to get her own feet wrapped around Emily's waist and away from the water. Emily noticed what the girl was trying to do and helped her settle into a position, Kacey slumped into Emily's front, the side of her head resting comfortably against Emily's chest as she looked back over at Parker in the water._

 _Paige quickly jumped in, cannonballing right next to Parker, sending her back into a fit of giggles, resurfacing and whipping her head to the side ridding most of the water from her face before reaching over and grabbing Parker, lifting her as far above the water as she could before immediately tossing her back into the lake._

 _Emily let out a laugh as she watched Kacey frown at Paige and Parker in the lake, "You sure you don't want to go in Kace?" Emily urged, "Looks pretty fun."_

 _Kacey looked up at Emily still frowning, "No." She answered simply as she shook her head slightly._

 _"_ _Can you at least put your feet in?" Emily continued to try, knowing that the girl would eventually give in, "Look, like this." She said before moving her feet, which were hanging off the low set dock, around in the water in demonstration. The splashing noise from her feet clearly peaked Kacey's interest as she leaned back in Emily's arms and watched as Emily kicked her feet._

 _Kacey giggled a little and Emily took the opportunity to turn the girl in her lap, scooting back a little so there was space for Kacey on the dock, "Here." She said, unwrapping the towel from around the little girl and setting it behind her before guiding Kacey into the space between her legs, Kacey surprisingly going willingly. "There you go." Emily said encouragingly as Kacey's feet hit the water._

 _Kacey laughed, suddenly enjoying the feeling of the water, "Mama, look." She said as she kicked her feet wildly._

 _"_ _Hey princess, wanna come in?" Paige asked as she noticed Kacey's change in attitude. She swam over to the dock with Parker on her back, grabbing the edge of it when she got there, "Wanna trade?" Paige asked a little out of breath, pulling Parker off her back before helping her up onto the dock next to Emily._

 _"_ _Go with mommy," Emily said softly into Kacey's ear as Paige moved in front of her, "You'll be okay."_

 _Paige grabbed Kacey by the waist and lowered her into her arms, "See not so bad huh?" Paige said seeing Kacey smile when she hit the water._

 _Kacey laughed as she scooped some water up in her hand and splashed it towards Paige's face, "Oh so now you think your funny, don't you." Paige teased, Kacey continued laughing as she nodded her head rapidly. Paige scooped up some water into her own hand and gently splashed it towards the little girl, who immediately covered her face._

 _Emily smiled as she watched on. There was something about watching Paige interact with their kids that made her heart swell more than anything else. And as nervous as Paige had been about having kids, she was great with them. Emily looked at the little girl standing next to her, dripping water on the dock, fully focused on Paige and Kacey in the water. She reached over and grabbed the towel, standing up and draping it over Parker's head._

 _Parker laughed as she squirmed under the towel as Emily started drying her off, "Mama!" The little brunette squealed in pleasure before popping her head out of the towel, shooting a huge smile up at Emily as her mom continued to dry her off, giggling herself._

 _Emily easily recognized that smile as Paige's and took a moment to study the other similar features of Paige's that Parker was quickly growing into. "You tired?" Emily asked, as Parker finally let out a yawn. Paige and Parker had been at the lake now all day, both refusing to leave its side, only doing so for lunch._

 _Parker shook her head immediately, "No."_

 _"_ _Liar." Emily deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the little girl._

 _"_ _No." The little girl dragged out as she shook her head in denial._

 _"_ _Come on, what if we just take a little break and sit down for a minute." Emily tried, leaning down and lifting Parker up into her arms, which was proving to be a task that was growing harder and harder._

 _"_ _But I wanna play with Kacey." She said disappointed, pointing to where Kacey was still splashing around happily in Paige's arms as Paige swam her around a small space in the lake._

 _"_ _You can get back in after our break okay, how's that sound?" Emily asked. She stood on the dock and watched Parker's eyes move from her own eyes to Paige and Kacey in thought, "I promise they aren't going anywhere, they'll still be there in a little bit." Emily promised._

 _Parker nodded, satisfied with that, "Okay." She agreed, wrapping her arms around Emily's neck tightly and leaning her chin down on her mom's shoulder._

 _Emily walked them a few feet over to her chair and sat down in it. Parker immediately readjusted herself, trying to get comfy as she leaned into Emily, curling up on her lap before allowing Emily to wrap her arms around her. It wasn't five minutes before Parker's breaths evened out and the girl's body became heavy with sleep in her lap._

 _Emily continued to run her hand soothingly up and down Parker's back as she watched Paige and Kacey play in the lake. She felt completely contempt in her life. She got more than she could ask for and she felt lucky to be doing it all with Paige._

 _Eventually Paige started to make her way up to her, with a clearly exhausted Kacey in her arms, "Ah so yours whipped out too huh?" Paige teased as she gestured to Parker._

 _"_ _Very quickly." Emily stated quietly, "Ready to get out of here?"_

 _Paige nodded, "Yeah I'm feeling a lot like these two right about now." She admitted, gesturing to their two kids with a sigh._

 _"_ _Alright let's get you home grandma." Emily teased._

 _"_ _Rude." Paige said playfully._

 _Emily laughed as she stood up with Parker in her arms, "Here can we please trade?" Emily asked, knowing she couldn't make it to the car holding a sleeping Parker and the few things they brought with them._

 _Paige nodded, whispering something to Kacey before setting her on the ground before reaching over and pulling Parker from Emily's arms, the girl unconsciously nuzzling into Paige instantly, completely unaffected by the change of arms wrapped around her._

 _"_ _Thanks," Emily said, gathering up their things quickly and adjusting them in one arm before scooping Kacey up with the other. This kid being slightly easier to carry due to the fact that she was awake and could hold herself up in Emily's arms, not supplying much weight._

 _Emily couldn't keep the small smile that sat on her face as she watched Paige walk a few steps ahead of her with Parker in her arms. The sight continued to make her heart swell. It's like it wouldn't stop, no matter how often she took a moment to really admire her and Paige's little family. They had spent years whispering promises of a life like this together and now she had it. They didn't have to imagine it anymore because it was real. They had everything they ever wanted and Emily couldn't wait to see what else was ahead of them…._

"What made you remember that?" Paige asked curiously as Emily finished her story, which Paige had to admit was completely accurate, "That memory doesn't really seem that significant. I mean, obviously any memory that you can pull up is great, but that just seemed like a random one for you to suddenly be able to pick out, especially out of everything we looked at today."

Emily let a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she looked at the picture still on the screen, "That's the first time I thought about having another one."

"Another one?" Paige asked not understanding.

"That's the first time I really knew I wanted Taylor." Emily explained, remembering the overwhelming realization that Parker and Kacey were getting bigger than she wanted them to get and it was happening faster than she thought it would.

Paige looked at her surprised by the new information, "What? Really?" Paige asked, Emily never having told her that before, "But you didn't even mention it for…" Paige stopped for a moment to think about it, "I don't know, it had to be another year or so after this." She said gesturing to the picture."

Emily shrugged, "I didn't bring it up right away because I didn't know if you'd want anymore and I don't know, I just kept it to myself for a while and really made sure that was something I wanted."

Paige nodded in understanding. She had many of those urges herself back then before they had Taylor. One day she would swear that she couldn't keep up with a third kid if she wanted to but other days she missed the sensation of having her kids being small babies. She remembers Emily nervously pitching the idea of a third child to her, of course she didn't jump on board immediately but it didn't take her long to. If she had known Emily had been thinking about it for as long as she apparently had, Paige would've given in much faster and not had played devil's advocate with Emily to make sure it's what she wanted.

"I'm glad we had Taylor." Paige said, "Two's just way too easy." She joked.

Emily laughed, "How do you think they're doing on their own?"

Paige shrugged, "Honestly with those kids you never know." She said, "But I'm sure they're still alive, which is always good."

"I'd hope they could at least manage that." Emily said, shaking her head at Paige.

"I'm sure they're fine." Paige reassured, "I'll call Parker later and see how everything went today." She said, leaning over and pecking Emily on the lips.

 **[][][][][][][][][]**

"Alright, please explain to me what in the world is going on with you." Parker said as she dropped down onto her back on her bed. The two had barely said a word to each other since they got to Taylor's game. Taylor noticing the awkwardness during a nearly silent dinner, agreed to go to her room early tonight with the promise of getting to watch tv a little past her bedtime that Parker offered up.

"Do we really have to do this?" Kacey asked, really not in the mood to argue with her sister, "Can't we just pretend it didn't happen?"

"Kacey you've been acting weird for the last couple of days and I haven't said anything because I thought you could sort it out on your own but clearly you aren't sorting it out the right way." Parker stated, leaning up on her forearms and peaking over at Kacey.

Kacey sighed angrily and sat up straight, "And what would be the right way Parker?"

Parker shrugged the best she could from her position, "Talking to someone about it instead of doing whatever it is you're doing." Parker suggested, "You're way way way too young to be sleeping around Kacey. I mean if you're going to do that at least wait until your college party years like a normal person."

"And you'd be okay with that?" Kacey asked, not buying it for a second, she knew her sister better than that.

"Of course I wouldn't be because I know that's not what you want." Parker admitted.

"You don't know what I want." Kacey spat back a little aggressively.

"I may not know exactly what you want but I know you Kacey." Parker stated, "I know you love all that sappy, soulmates, I can't live without you, true love, forever and always type stuff. I don't know what's going on with you but I know that if I wouldn't have come home and you would've went through with whatever that was that I walked in on, you would've regretted it more than anything." Parker stopped and took a breath when she saw Kacey drop her head, avoiding her gaze, "So why don't you just tell me what's going on with you."

Kacey shook her head, keeping her eyes glued to her hands that fidgeted in her lap, "I told you, I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Parker pushed.

"Look, it's not a big deal Parker." Kacey tried, "Can we please just let it go? At least for tonight?" Kacey pleaded.

Parker studied her sister carefully. It was more than obvious that something was really bothering her and she wanted to help her. But she also knew that Kacey was sensitive and while she liked to talk about her feelings and let people in, she also didn't like to be pushed when she didn't want to share. So as much as Parker wanted to pry, she decided to give her sister the space she was asking for tonight. "Fine, but I'm here for you alright?"

Kacey didn't reply verbally, but she nodded her head to let Parker now she heard her. Parker nodded figuring that was all she was going to get out of her. She sat up fully in her bed, letting her feet hit the ground as she studied Kacey, who had laid back down and turned her back to Parker.

"I know I'm a little overprotective sometimes, I'll admit that." Parker said as she rubbed the back of her neck anxiously, "I just…I don't want you to get your heart broken, you know." Parker said, sighing heavily, just the thought of someone hurting Kacey upsetting her, "It sucks Kace. And okay maybe I go a little overboard sometimes, I'll admit that too, but I just want to make sure nobody hurts you. I'm your older sister, that's what I'm supposed to do."

"Parker you're only a year older than me, how many times do I have to remind you. I'm not a baby." Kacey said, turning slightly to look over her shoulder at her sister.

"I know, I know. It's still hard sometimes though to remember that." Parker said shaking her head, "Growing up I was always told to look out for you, you know. Protect you and make sure that you were always alright when our moms weren't around to do it themselves."

Kacey sighed and slowly climbed out of bed and walked over to Parker's bed, sitting down next to her, "And I appreciate it. Really I do. You've always been there for me and I don't know what I'd do without you." Kacey said sincerely, "But maybe we could take it back just a notch?"

Parker laughed lightly, "I mean I can try but no promises."

Kacey rolled her eyes, "I guess we have to start somewhere. It's more than nothing."

"All I ask is you come to me if you need anything okay?" Parker said, really not wanting a repeat of what happened here today, "Please. If something's bugging you and you just want to talk or get something off your chest, I'm here. Anything." She stated, "Even if you have a boyfriend or you're thinking about…doing things, let me know."

Kacey scoffed, "What so you can kill him?" She teased, although she wasn't sure how far off from reality it really was.

"Not going to lie, I was like three seconds away from snapping that boy's neck earlier." Parker said, half joking, half whole heartedly honest.

"Jesus Parker," Kacey said with wide yes causing Parker to laugh, "Seriously though, you're not really going to tell mom and mama about this are you?" Kacey asked timidly.

"Tell them you almost got pregnant on my watch?" Parker asked, scoffing dramatically, "Yeah right. No thank you. I'll pass."

"I did not almost get pregnant on your watch." Kacey stated rolling her eyes but not being able to stop the small laugh that slipped from her mouth as she shoved Parker lightly, "God, you're always so dramatic."

"It only takes one time Kacey." Parker said, trying her best to keep a straight face, "One. Time." She emphasized.

Kacey rolled her eyes again, "Thanks mom, but I don't need the sex talk. I know how it works." She teased. Before Parker could say anything back her phone began to ring on her bed, Kacey grabbed the phone and handed it to her quickly, "mom." She informed before moving over to her own bed.

Parker nodded, "I'm going to take it downstairs alright." She said moving out of the room quickly after Kacey nodded. She made her way to the living room and dropped her body down onto the couch taking a deep breath before answering her phone, "Hey mom."

 _"_ _Hey kid, how is everything going?"_ Paige asked, _"Are you guys doing alright on your own?"_

"Yeah, we're fine, everything's going good so far." Parker reassured, trying her best to sound like she hadn't just had the most stressful day ever. Her and Kacey's talk had gone alright and she felt much better now than she had earlier but she was still worried about what was bothering Kacey so much

 _"_ _You got Taylor to her game okay and everything?"_

"Yep. Taylor got there on time, her team won so she was in a good mood for the rest of the day and easy to handle." Parker said truthfully, "We stopped and got some food on the way home so everyone's fed and now we're all just sitting around the house hanging out." Parker explained, "Everything is completely and 100% under control."

Paige didn't respond immediately, taking a moment to settle on what Parker had just said before speaking again, _"Alright then, I'm glad things are going smoothly so far. Make sure you all go to bed at appropriate times okay, we'll call you tomorrow to check in again."_

Parker nodded, "Sounds good mom."

 _"_ _Tell everyone we love them and miss them."_

Parker let out a small laugh, "I will. We love you guys too. Have fun, talk to you tomorrow."

 _"_ _Okay. Bye kid."_

"Bye."

Paige hung up her phone and tossed it onto the counter before making her way back to Emily who was still sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace that was crackling, supplying the only light in the living room, "Okay so I don't want to doubt that our kids have everything under control and are being perfect angels," Paige said as she entered the room, "but I doubt our kids have everything under control and are being perfect angels."

Emily laughed as she watched Paige's eyebrows furrow in thought as the brunette approached her, "What makes you say that?" Emily questioned as Paige sat down next to her, leaning back as she rested her weight on her forearms, "Did Parker say something was wrong on the phone?"

Paige shook her head and sighed, "No, I just-. She just sounded too…chipper?"

"Chipper?" Emily question, amused by Paige's worrying.

Paige scrunched up her face and shrugged, "Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how else to explain it."

"I'm sure they're fine babe." Emily said, leaning onto her side before reaching over and rubbing her hand up and down Paige's arm reassuringly.

Paige nodded, "Yeah you're probably right."

"Mmm I'm always right." Emily teased.

"Not going to argue there." Paige said as she quickly leaned up and rolled Emily onto her back, hovering over her.

Emily let her fingers run across Paige's cheek before she tucked the hair that was framing her face behind her ear, "I've taught you well." She said, smirking playfully.

"Mhm," Paige said as she leaned down and connect their lips briefly, "You've taught me quite a few things." She stated suggestively.

"Yeah?" Emily asked, amused. She earned a hum in response from Paige, "Why don't you show me then." Emily suggested.

"My pleasure." Paige said, connecting their lips again.

Emily got into it very quickly, but Paige pulled away from her softly before Emily could deepen their kiss like she wanted to do, "What?" She asked, looking up at Paige with dark, hooded eyes that made Paige bite her lip in anticipation.

"Just a fair warning Em, we're not in our 20s anymore." Paige reminded Emily as she smirked down at her, "If we spend the rest of our night having sex on this hard floor, your body is going to hurt in the morning." Paige said, completely seriously, "Hard floors are not your friend once you hit a certain age babe. My back will hurt and I will complain about it all day tomorrow." She admitted.

Emily simply laughed, reaching up and pulling Paige back down by her neck, connecting their lips together hungrily, "You're ridiculous." She whispered against Paige's lips.

"I'm completely serious." Paige stated through heavy breathing, "You're back's probably going to be sore too." She stated, remembering the last time her and Emily had sex on anything that wasn't a soft bed or couch.

Emily ignored Paige's warnings, not worried about them at all at the moment, instead tugging Paige's shirt off, followed by her own, "I think I'll take my chances." She stated confidently, kissing Paige passionately with no more interruptions. The only sounds filling the house for the rest of the night being their heavy breathing, soft moans, and cries of pleasure as they lost themselves in each other over and over again.


	30. Chapter 30

**Real quick, just letting you guys know that classes start back up this week so I don't know how updates are going to go. I'm already pretty slow so I'm hoping to stay on at least the same pace but sometimes it takes a little bit of time to fall back into the rhythm of balancing everything so try to be patient with me if I don't do great with updates.**

 **Also sorry for the little bit of angst in this chapter, I'm trying to tone it down but I love angst and it just comes out of me when I write so that's that. As usual let me know what you think of the chapter, I love reading everyone's feedback so don't be afraid to throw your thoughts at me (good or bad). Enjoy :)**

Paige hummed in displeasure as she drifted out of sleep due to the seemingly endless shifting of the woman next to her. She had unsuccessfully tried to scoot away from her wife and fall back asleep but Emily's limbs continued to bump and nudge her no matter how hard Paige attempted to escape them.

"Mmm, how're you feeling?" Paige asked groggily, eyes still closed but a smile creeping its way onto her face as she decided to give up on the idea that Emily might fall asleep again, meaning she wouldn't be falling asleep again either.

"My back is fine if that's what you're asking." Emily responded matter-of-factly, rolling back over onto her side to look at Paige, who was shaking her head knowingly as she waited for what she already knew was coming, "My hip however…not so great." Emily groaned out as she sat up grumpily before pulling herself to her feet rather slowly. Paige let out a hardy laugh as she opened her eyes to watch Emily, who instantly shot a glare down at the brunette, "Shut up." Emily sneered playfully with a small pout.

"Hey, I tried to warn you babe." Paige said as she stayed laying on her back, bringing her hands up to rest behind her head, "Not my fault nobody ever listens to me." She stated playfully with a shrug of her shoulders.

Emily rolled her eyes as she grabbed Paige's discarded shirt on the floor and slipped it over her head, "No one likes a know it all honey." She threw over her shoulder, making her way to the kitchen.

"Yeah says you out of all people." Paige mumbled out through a laugh.

"Meaning?" Emily challenged, popping her head back around the corner, daring Paige to say something.

Paige shook her head as she stood up, gripping the blanket they had pulled off the back of the couch last night tight to her chest, "Nothing dear." She dragged out with a charming smile.

"Mhm, thought so." Emily responded shortly, dipping back into the kitchen.

Paige ran her fingers through her hair sleepily, a tired smile still sitting on her face as she made her way up off the floor. Her smile however quickly subsided once she was to her feet and a growing pain settled into her back. She let a low groan of discomfort leave her lips as she did her best to stretch her back without further hurting it. Paige sighed, accepting that the pain was probably here to stay for at least the rest of the morning and readjusted the thick blanket around her body before shuffling sluggishly towards the hallway.

"I'm going to get in the shower real quick Em." She called out as she made her way towards the bedroom, receiving a short muffled response from Emily acknowledging that she heard her.

Paige's quick shower quickly turned into a long one, enjoying the soothing sensation that the hot water provided for her sore back muscles. Once she was out she slipped on a pair of shorts and a v-neck before making her way back to the kitchen where she assumed Emily still was due to the smell of food wafting throughout the house. As she suspected Emily was standing in front of the stove, Paige's t-shirt barely falling past her backside and covering her. Paige couldn't help but smile at the sight before her, it never seeming to get old to her.

Emily glance over her shoulder when she heard Paige's bare feet padding across the wooden flooring of the kitchen, throwing her a smile before returning her attention to the stove in front of her. Paige came up behind her, slipping one of her arms around Emily's waist, placing a lingering kiss to Emily's cheek, earning a big grin from Emily as she leaned into Paige's touch. Paige let her arm fall from Emily's waist and stood behind her, immediately reaching into the pan of scrambled eggs in front of Emily and snatching a little piece and popping it into her mouth.

"Uh-uh," Emily said, swatting Paige's arm away when she reached back towards the pan to grab more, "you can wait." Emily said, earning a pout from Paige causing her to giggle, "It's almost done," Emily stated, bringing her hand up to brush Paige lips with her thumb lightly, giving her another small smile, "I made coffee." She said nodding her head towards the filled coffee pot.

"Fair enough." Paige settled, pouring herself a cup and moving to the table on the other side of the kitchen, waiting patiently for Emily to finish making breakfast, "So what do you want to do today?"

Emily shrugged absentmindedly, "Well I have a few bills I need to pay that I didn't have time to do yesterday, but that shouldn't take very long. I can just pay them online and then I'm yours for the rest of the day."

Paige nodded along, "Sounds great. Anything you want to do while we're out here? It's really up to you, I'll go along with whatever you're up for."

Emily thought about it for a moment as she scooped some food onto two plates, "Maybe we could spend some of today just talking things through." Emily suggested, turning the stove off and joining Paige at the table with their food.

Emily could tell Paige wasn't thrilled about that suggestion by the way her face contorted as soon as the words came out of Emily's mouth, but nonetheless Paige nodded in agreeance, "'Kay." She mumbled through a mouthful of food, not adding anything else.

They ate breakfast pretty slowly. Basking in comfortable small talk and playful banter, enjoying the quiet of the house that they weren't given the privilege of having on very many weekend mornings at their own home. Even once they were done with breakfast, they sat at the table and simply enjoyed each other's company for most of the morning. Eventually though Paige stood up and cleared the table.

"Where's your laptop?" Emily asked as her eyes glanced around the room in search of it.

"I put it in the bedroom." Paige answered, earning a nod from Emily who turned on her heels and made her way down the hallway.

Paige stayed behind and rinsed off the dishes, moving around the kitchen slowly as she cleaned up the small mess left behind on the stove from Emily making breakfast. It didn't take her to long to finish and once she was she wandered towards the back of the house in search of Emily who never returned. She found her wife sitting up against the headboard of the bed, legs crossed at the ankles, laptop resting on her lap, and glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Her hair was wet making it clear that she was freshly showered, dressed in sinfully short shorts and a tight tank top.

Paige didn't realize she had been staring from the doorway until Emily's voice broke through the room, "You gonna just stand there?" She asked, never looking away from the computer screen.

Paige managed to move herself out of the doorway and towards the bed, sitting down next to Emily, falling into what was basically the same position as Emily had been sitting in. Emily reached over to the nightstand, grabbing the tv remote and handing it to Paige, "Thanks." She mumbled out, getting comfortable before aimlessly flipping through the channels.

It didn't take Paige long to lose interest in the tv, finding herself glancing over at Emily and her laptop more than focusing on the tv screen. She tossed the remote down to the bottom corner of the bed and shifted her body onto its side to face Emily.

"What?" Emily asked, looking at Paige from the corner of her eye, trying to stay focused on finishing her task at hand on the laptop, but finding it hard with Paige, shifting and shuffling around on the bed next to her.

"I'm bored." She simply answered with a small whine.

Emily shook her head, "Well find a way to entertain yourself for like three more minutes, I'm pretty much done." She stated, "Then when I'm done we can talk like we said we were going to."

Paige nodded, shifting down the bed a little bit, loosely draping her leg over one of Emily's and letting her arm hang across Emily's torso as Paige let a light kiss fall on her wife's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked through a chuckle.

"Entertaining myself." Paige murmured against warm skin.

"Well when I said entertain yourself, I dint mean with me." Emily stated, unintentionally leaning her head slightly to the side when Paige brought her hand up to brush her hair over Emily's other shoulder to expose more skin.

Paige hummed against the crook between Emily's shoulder and neck as she worked her way up, "Should've been more specific."

Emily let another small laugh slip from her lips, "I'll remember that." She said, letting Paige continue. She closed the laptop in her lap, now finished with it, scooting it off her lap and pushing it off to the side. "Okay, okay. I'm done." She announced, pulling her glasses off and slipping them safely back onto the bedside table, but Paige let her lips continue their journey up her wife's neck despite Emily being done.

"Paige." Emily murmured in attempt to get the other woman's attention, not being able to hold back the soft hum of pleasure that slipped from her lips unwillingly, "The point of this little trip was to work on our problems remember," Emily reminded Paige as the brunette continued to plant open mouthed kisses to Emily's neck, inching her way across every exposed surface, "Time to talk." She barely managed to get out.

"Later." Paige mumbled against smooth skin, clearly having no intentions to stop anytime soon as she fully straddled Emily and grinded her hips down gently.

"We have to stop." Emily said with a giggle, pushing Paige back lightly, knowing very well that if she let Paige continue she'd easily get carried away. And she didn't trust herself to last much longer before she gave in to Paige and got carried away with the brunette herself.

Paige groaned as she slid her hands out from under Emily's shirt and rolled off of the dark haired beauty, falling onto her back on the other side of the bed, letting out a huff, "Fine."

"Oh come on," Emily said straightening out her shirt, so caught up in not getting caught up in Paige and her advances that she hadn't even truly noticed her wife's hands slowly working their way under her shirt in the first place. Emily eyed the small pout that naturally formed on her wife's face before smiling, "we literally went at it all night, how are you even still going?" She asked, feeling a little exhausted herself from all their participation in extracurricular activities lately.

"I'm just trying to make the most out of a kid free zone."

Emily sat up and looked down at Paige curiously, "Are you sure that's what you're doing?" She asked a little hesitantly, causing Paige to look at her with furrowed brows, not understanding what Emily was getting at. When Paige simply waited for Emily to continue instead of responding Emily sighed, "Are you sure you're not just avoiding actually talking to me about what's been going on between us?"

Paige rolled her eyes immediately as she dropped her head to the side, looking away from Emily, "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." Emily said, slowly starting to get irritated with the brunette.

Paige may not have wanted to talk about it but she really did. She wanted to know why Paige was still acting off towards her some days and why she was completely fine on others. Whether Paige wanted to admit it or not, things weren't 100% back to normal and Emily wanted to get back to that, whatever she had to do but as she already told Page, she couldn't do it by herself. She had tried and it clearly hadn't worked.

"I don't know why you just won't talk to me about it." Emily said letting out some of her frustration.

"Because Emily, we already talked about it." Paige sighed out calmly, easily noting the frustration in Emily's tone, but not wanting to feed into it.

Emily sighed too, bringing her voice back down, "I know we already talked about it but clearly we still haven't worked it out. I know you said you forgave me Paige but I don't really think you have yet." Emily suggested timidly, "One day you're pissed at me for no reason and the next you're completely fine, acting like there's nothing wrong."

Paige groaned as she sat up and got off of the bed, walking straight out of the room. Emily simply sighed again, watching her go before dropping her head back as she decided whether she should go after her wife or not. She didn't want to fight with Paige, which is exactly where this conversation felt like it was headed, but she couldn't help herself, she wanted Paige to be honest with her so they could really get back to where they were before this whole mess.

Emily took a deep breath before sliding off the bed and slowly making her way through the house, "Paige, you can't just keep avoiding it." Emily said, stopping in the entryway of the living room where she found Paige sitting on the couch casually flipping through the channels.

"I'm not avoiding anything Emily." Paige stated, not moving her eyes from the tv screen, it clear in her tone that she was agitated though, "I told you, we already talked about it and there's really no need to keep going on and on about it. I don't know why you're trying to start a fight right now."

"I'm not trying to start anything," Emily replied defensively, "We came here to work out our differences and I'm ready to do that. Look I'm the reason we're having problems and I get that. You're upset Paige, it's fine but you shouldn't be holding in your emotions about it, it's making it worse for us."

"Emily, stop." Paige warned.

"No, just admit that you're mad at me." Emily urged, not being able to hold back anymore. She wanted a reaction out of Paige. She needed something from her wife and at this point she didn't care what form that something came in, "You're going to have to face it eventually Paige, you can't just keep going on ignoring it like nothing happened and think it's just going to go away."

Emily took a deep breath and waited for Paige's response but it didn't come. Emily had gotten much more worked up than she originally intended and tried to calm herself down a little before speaking up again, "Paige." Emily tried softly.

"What?!" Paige asked loudly as she stood from the couch, tossing the remote onto the couch and looking at Emily, finally having enough of it all, "What do you want me to say Emily? I told you I forgave you for what happened and I do, but you know what Emily it doesn't happen overnight." Paige explained angrily, "I need some time to get over it."

Emily nodded her head, pleased that she was at least getting somewhere with this conversation, "Okay, I can understand that." She said, much calmer now than she had been moments ago.

"But?" Paige urged Emily to continue, figuring she had something more to say. She usually did lately.

Emily however shook her head, "But nothing. I get it." She said, letting her words hang in the air for a moment before continuing, "I just don't know what to do then. Do I just have to push through days you're mad at me and enjoy the days you're not? I mean how do I handle that?"

Paige shook her head, unsure, "I don't know Emily. I'm sorry if some days it gets to me." Paige stated truthfully. Emily noticing the way her fingers curled into tight fists, making it obvious that she was doing her best to keep her composure. "I can't really do much about it though Emily. I have bad days okay. It's not like they're exactly fun for me. Trust me I'd rather not have days where all I think about is what you did." She admitted somewhat harshly.

"I didn't know you were thinking about it that much." Emily admitted quietly, letting her gaze fall away from Paige's, not feeling too good about herself at the moment.

"Are you kidding me?" Paige asked, in disbelief, "I haven't been able to get the images of you with some other woman out of my head." She stated, rubbing at her face roughly, "To stop feeling like I wasn't enough for you. I need time to get over the fact that, while you didn't have a full-fledged affair with Rachel, you very easily could've if you had wanted to." She said, "You didn't Emily but I let it get to the point in our marriage where you could've. We let it get to a point where that could've happened. I need time to get over the realization that all of this, everything that we have together right now could've been ruined, just like that."

Emily's gaze stayed locked on the floor, letting everything Paige said sink in. She didn't know what to say. She was glad Paige was finally getting it off her chest though. She hadn't yelled or talked much about the incident since the night Emily had initially told her about the whole thing with Rachel. She lifted her head to look at Paige only to find her standing stiffly with a clenched jaw, her fists curled back up in balls.

Paige shook her head in frustration, "Of course I've been thinking about it that much Emily because as much as you seem to believe I don't care about our marriage, I do." She stated, walking off back towards the bedroom, doing her best to regain her composure and calm down.

"Why would you say that?" Emily asked as she followed, now being the one to grow agitated, "I know you care about our marriage Paige, I never said you didn't." She argued back.

Paige scoffed, "No, I'm pretty sure you implied that I didn't. Isn't that why we ended up here," Paige questioned as she gestured to their surroundings, "because you needed me to care more about fixing our apparently broken marriage."

"We don't have a broken marriage." Emily corrected, "Don't say that."

Paige sighed at the hurt in Emily's tone. She looked up at her wife and let out a heavy breath through her nose, "I'm sorry. I just…I don't know what you want me to say anymore."

Paige walked deeper into the room and grabbed her sweatshirt off the top of her suitcase and pulled it over her head as she walked past Emily and back down the hallway, Emily still on her heels, "What are you doing?" Emily asked as she watched Paige grab the car keys off the counter.

"I don't know." Paige said honestly.

Emily grabbed her wrist, stopping Paige from making it to the front door, "Stop." She said sternly.

Paige gently tugged her arm out of Emily's vise grip, not being able to help but send a small glare towards Emily, "I just need to cool down Emily, alright." She rushed out, still feeling pent up frustration running through her body.

She didn't want to stick around and fight with Emily all day over something she didn't even want to talk about in the first place. And she definitely didn't want to stick around and accidently stick her foot in her mouth somewhere in the middle of a burst of anger. She loved Emily and she didn't want to make this worse by aimlessly yelling at one another in complete rage. She just needed to give herself some space to calm down before continuing this conversation, "I'll be back later." Paige promised, turning and leaving Emily standing in the entryway of the house alone.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][]**

Parker grabbed the edge of the pool and slightly pulled herself up, placing her crossed arms on the concrete surrounding the outside of the pool as she tried to catch her breath, not paying much attention to her surrounding, "Hey." Parker turned her head in the direction of the voice and was surprised to find McKenna standing a few feet away from her.

"Hey." Parker offered as she wiped the dripping water from her face, "What are you doing here?"

"Your little sister said you were back here," McKenna said, gesturing back towards the house, "I thought maybe we could talk." She said, clearly hesitant.

Parker nodded before pulling her body up and climbing out of the pool. Her and McKenna hadn't said much to each other since their talk in the locker room at the beginning of the week, only acknowledging each other when it was required during swim practice. She walked over to the table on the patio and grabbed her towel off the table, wrapping it over her shoulders before walking back towards the pool and sitting on the edge, letting her feet dangle in the water.

Parker looked back at McKenna expectantly but the other girl didn't move from her spot causing Parker to pat the spot next to her on the ground, "I promise I don't bite." Parker said before tilting her head to the side slightly in thought, "Well that's not entirely true, but I promise not to bite you unless you ask."

"Parker!" McKenna exclaimed with surprised eyes, not having expected Parker to say something along those lines.

Parker pressed her lips together to try to keep herself from laughing, "Sorry, sorry. You just look like you're nervous, which makes me nervous and I make jokes when I'm nervous. Usually bad ones. I can't help it."

McKenna looked around the back yard, reminded of the nerves that have been circulating through her body since she finally worked up the courage to come see Parker. She slowly made her way over to the brunette, standing above her as she slipped her sandals off before sinking down next to Parker on the edge of the pool.

"So what'd you want to talk about?" Parker asked, deciding to start up the conversation after a while of tense silence.

McKenna pulled her gaze away from her feet that were running through the water slowly and looked at Parker, "I felt really bad for avoiding you last weekend and not giving you the benefit of the doubt."

Parker nodded, "It's okay newbie, don't worry about it." She said coolly.

McKenna eyed her for a minute, "Really?" She asked unsure.

Parker shrugged, "You're cautious, I get it."

"No, it was stupid of me to just blow you off because of something someone else said." McKenna admitted, "I don't even know why I did it, I just was looking for an excuse to not like you so much and that was the perfect one I guess." Parker looked at McKenna, a smirk slowly growing on her face, "What?" McKenna asked shyly, not realizing why Parker was looking at her like that.

"So you like me huh?" Parker asked with a raised eyebrow, smirk still firmly planted on her face.

McKenna dropped her head slightly as she felt her face heat up in embarrassment causing Parker to laugh, "It's okay." Parker said, "It's understandable, I'm hard to resist." She teased.

McKenna picked up her head for a moment to nudge Parker lightly with her shoulder, "Stop." She practically begged, burying her head in her hands to hide her face.

Parker let her own laugh die down before grabbing at McKenna's wrist and prying her hands away from her face, "Come on, really it's fine." Parker said genuinely, "I like you too."

"Yeah?" McKenna asked lowly, looking at Parker like she didn't really believe her.

"Yeah." Parker answered immediately, a smile creeping onto her face as McKenna bit her lip, dropping her head again slightly, clearly trying to hide her excitement.

Parker took the chance to admire the pure innocence that she found in McKenna. She wasn't used to someone who was shy and unsure of themselves, but still somehow so confident and sure of who they were. Parker found it intriguing. Alluring even. McKenna's wavy hair fell around her face, blocking it fully from Parker's view but she didn't need to see it to know the girl was gorgeous. Parker had the other girl's natural beauty memorized at this point. She had gotten so deeply lost in her thoughts that Parker was surprised when McKenna finally pulled her head up and faced her. Their eyes meeting, a shy smile on McKenna's lips.

Parker couldn't help but inch closer to the girl next to her, letting her eyes drop to McKenna's lips before darting them back up to find McKenna's piercing green eyes staring back into hers. Parker quickly swallowed down her newly found nervousness and leaned in slowly, not giving herself a chance to overthink it. She closed her eyes softly and pressed her lips against McKenna's, letting her hand slide up to rest against the naturally tanned skin of the other girl's cheek.

She felt the pressure of McKenna's lips against hers for a moment before the other girl pulled away slowly. Parker's eyes fluttered opened to find a blushing McKenna smiling at her. Parker smirked back, feeling her usual confidence slip back into play before leaning in again, this time though not meeting McKenna's lips like she anticipated, but instead her lips pressing firmly against McKenna's cheek.

Parker pulled back slightly with a frown to find McKenna shaking her head, a smile playing on her lips, "You have to earn the next one."

"Earn the next one?" Parker asked incredulously, eyebrow raised in question.

McKenna nodded as she stood up slowly, "Good girl remember?" She said, slipping on her sandals before looking back down at Parker, "We haven't even been on a date yet."

"A date?" Parker asked, standing up kind of surprised, "I uh…I've never really done that whole thing before." She admitted.

"Really?" McKenna asked a small laugh slipping from her lips in surprise. She smiled at Parker reassuringly when she noticed the brunette scratch the back of her neck nervously. She reached up to grab Parker's forearm, pulling her arm down and interlacing their fingers loosely, "That's okay."

"So you really want to go out on a date?" Parker asked, looking down at their hands, "Like a date date?"

Another laugh escaped McKenna's lips. She wasn't used to seeing Parker nervous like this. It definitely wasn't a common occurrence, but she found it endearing, "Only if you want to."

"Yeah." Parker said, bringing her gaze up to look at McKenna as she nodded, "My parents are out of town right now though, so I have to stay home and watch my sisters but maybe we could go out after practice or something this week?"

McKenna nodded in agreement, "That sounds perfect." She said, tightening her grip on Parker's hand before leaning in and quickly pecking the brunette's cheek before pulling away, "I better get going."

"Yeah, okay." Parker said, not really wanting her too. She'd had a long day yesterday and she was still feeling stressed out, having the other girl their helped her feel a little better, "I'll text you later?" She asked hopefully, figuring that would be enough to entertain her for the rest of the day.

McKenna nodded as she made her way towards the house, Parker trailing close behind her, "I'd like that." She responded politely. Parker walked her to the front door and waited for the other girl to climb in her car and drive off before closing the door and heading back inside.

"What's that about?"

Parker looked up as she walked into the living room to find Kacey eyeing her as she dragged her feet down the stairs and towards the kitchen for the first time today. "Hey look who finally decided to grace us with her presence Tay." Parker stated teasingly as she followed Kacey, earning a small laugh from Taylor who was planted in front of the tv playing videogames.

"And I'm already regretting it," Kacey said as she dug through the fridge absentmindedly, "But it was either come down here or starve to death."

Parker laughed, picking up on the playfulness in Kacey's tone, "Oh come on, we're not that bad."

"Whatever you want to tell yourself." Kacey said, popping some leftovers into the microwave before facing her older sister with a smug smile.

"I'm glad you're feeling better today," Parker said sincerely. She had been worried about Kacey all morning and figured the girl would still be mad at her over what happened yesterday, "You ready to talk about what's been bugging you lately?"

Kacey's face dropped almost instantly and Parker sighed in regret, knowing she probably should've just let it be for the day. "I told you I'm fine Parker." Kacey stated, facing her attention back on the microwave.

"Yeah I know, sorry." She said, doing her best to back track and pull Kacey's good mood back up. Kacey ignored Parker's attempts and focused on what she was doing. "You up for a swim?" Parker tried, hoping that if she changed the subject, Kacey would give her the time of day, "I've been out there for a while already but it's really nice out, so we can just sit around by the pool if you want."

Kacey shook her head disinterested, pulling her food out of the microwave and turning on her heels, "No thanks." She said as she passed Parker and walked back upstairs with her food.

"Alright then," Parker yelled towards the stairs, "Great talk." She added on sarcastically as she stood up, readjusting her towel around herself and looking over into the living room where Taylor had been all morning, taking full advantage of being able to play her games without any sort of time restriction or complaints about sitting to close to the tv from her parents, "You want to come hang out with me Tay?"

Taylor shook her head from her spot on the floor, fully focused on the tv screen, not giving Parker anything more. Parker rolled her eyes, "Gee you guys are so much fun." She mumbled under her breath as she walked back outside and dropped herself onto one of the lounge chairs on the side of the pool, grabbing her phone and wondering if it was too soon to text McKenna.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][]**

Emily spent a couple of hours busying herself around the house in attempt to get her mind off of Paige a little as she waited for her to return but her attempts were coming up short. There wasn't much for her to do around here and being alone wasn't helping silence her thoughts by any means. Emily had to fight the urge to give in and call Paige but the other woman needed a moment to herself and as much as she didn't like it, Emily understood it, so she restrained herself.

Eventually, after wandering around the inside and outside of the house as much as she possibly could, Emily made her way into the bedroom and laid on the bed in hopes of being able to fall asleep and burn a little more time, being optimistic about Paige being back by the time she woke up from her nap. After a small period of tossing and turning, Emily was able to get comfortable and fall asleep. Waking, what felt like 5 minutes later, she rolled over to glance at the clock to show that she had actually been able to sleep for over an hour.

She groggily stood up from the bed and perked up a little when she could faintly hear the muffled sound of the tv from the living room. She slid off the bed and walked towards the living room, hoping that Paige's time out had calmed her and put her wife in a much better mood. Emily entered the living room, the top of Paige's head rested on the armrest of the couch.

"Paige?" Emily called out gently, not getting the woman's attention. She walked around the couch and stood in front of Paige, letting out a small sigh when she noticed her wife was sound asleep.

She wasn't sure how long Paige had been back at the house but she knew it couldn't have been long, figuring that when she stumbled across Emily asleep she came out here to wait for her to get up and had fallen asleep herself. Emily thought about letting her sleep a little longer but decided to wake her up instead.

She kneeled down in front of her wife and ran her fingers gently across Paige's forehead, pushing her hair back slightly, "Paige." She tried softly, not getting much of a response, "Paige, wake up." She tried again, her voice barely rising from before.

Paige shuffled a little as she let out a barely audible groan, her eyes fluttering open to meet Emily's gaze, "Hey." She mumbled softly.

"Hey, how long have you been back?" Emily asked, keeping her voice soft, letting Paige come out of sleep slowly.

"Mmm," Paige hummed as she rubbed at her eyes, "Not very long. Maybe like half an hour?" She guessed after glancing at the clock, sitting up slightly and leaning her weight on her forearm, "You were sleeping though and I didn't want to wake you up."

"You could've laid down with me." Emily said, trying to express to Paige that she wasn't mad at her.

Paige shrugged her shoulders a little, "I didn't want to overstep." She admitted truthfully, not having been sure if Emily wanted her in the room with her when she woke up.

Emily tucked some of Paige's hair behind her ear, letting her hand linger and cup Paige cheek gently, "You wouldn't have been overstepping," she promised, "I'm not mad at you Paige."

"You're not?" Paige asked, to make sure.

Emily shook her head, giving Paige a warm smile, "You're allowed to be upset babe. I messed up and you're right, it takes time for it to go away." She agreed, having plenty of time throughout the day to ponder over everything Paige had said earlier, "Just, could you please try to let me in a little more. Maybe not snap at me every time you have a hard day. I mean I know I'm the one who made the mistake but it is hard for me too."

Paige nodded, knowing that Emily was right and that she had to find a way to get her emotions a little more under control, "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you." Emily said, leaning in to peck Paige's cheek before pulling away and standing back up on her feet.

"I wasn't sure if you had eaten yet, so I brought you back some food." Paige said as she sat up straight on the couch, stretching out her arms and twisting her back, trying to soothe her muscles.

"Good, I'm starving." Emily said, grabbing Paige by the arm and pulling her up off the couch, "What'd you get?"

"Chinese food from that little place you used to like." Paige said with a smile, knowing that it was one of Emily's favorite places to eat.

"That place is still open?" She asked in surprise as she practically jogged to the kitchen.

Paige let out a small laugh as she followed Emily, "Yep. Still going strong." She informed Emily, who had already started pulling the small food containers out of the bag that Paige had set on the counter a little earlier.

"Mmmm." Emily hummed out as she immediately pulled an eggroll out of one of the containers and took a hardy bite, "Oh my God. Still the best ever." She exclaimed dramatically through a mouthful of food, her head dropping back and her eyes rolling into the back of her head in satisfaction.

Paige couldn't help but laugh again at her wife, some things never changed and she loved that. "Are they even warm still?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows at Emily as she watched her swallow down most of her eggroll.

"Not really but I don't even care." Emily stated popping the rest of the eggroll into her mouth and moaning again, "So good."

"Attractive." Paige teased sarcastically, earning a small glare from Emily. Paige walked past Emily and grabbed two plates out of the cabinet, handing one to Emily and then scooping some food onto her own plate, "Here, I got it." Paige said, grabbing Emily's full plate and sticking it in the microwave for her.

"Thanks." Emily said, walking over to sit at the table and wait for Paige. Paige dropped Emily's plate in front of her moments later, dropping her own plate in front of her self across the table from her wife.

They ate in silence for a few minutes until Emily spoke up, "Hey, I know I already said it but I'm sorry for picking a fight with you earlier." Emily stated sincerely.

Paige shrugged, shooting a small smile towards Emily, "It's okay Em, really." The brunette said as she took another bite of food, "You're stubborn and hardheaded. If you want to get something out of someone, you're going to get it one way or another." Paige explained, ignoring Emily's eyebrows furrowing deeper with every word, "I've been married to you for a long time Emily, believe it or not I expect stuff like this from you."

Emily's jaw slacked causing her mouth to hang open slightly in surprise, "I am not stubborn or…" She began to defend but her words died down to a stop as Paige shot her a look from across the table which caused her to give in quickly with a small roll of her eyes as she sighed, "Fine. I suppose I can be a little stubborn and hardheaded sometimes."

Paige simply raised an eyebrow, "Sometimes?" She disagreed out loud, not buying it at all, "Really?"

"Okay like you're one to talk." Emily challenged, dropping her fork down onto her plate, food long forgotten as she pointed an accusatory finger at Paige, "You're just as bad." She exclaimed.

Paige immediately brought her hand up to her chest, "Me?!" She asked surprised at Emily turning things around on her, "I am not stubborn or hardheaded." She stated confidently, "Like at all." She denied.

Emily scoffed, shaking her head, "You're literally the most stubborn person I have ever met in my life."

"W-wh…am not." The brunette said weakly, her face falling, knowing that Emily wasn't going to let her have this one but not wanting to admit anything.

"Paige." Emily said in disbelief, "You're literally being stubborn right now."

"Whatever." Paige huffed out causing Emily to laugh, "I guess I'm a little stubborn." She mumbled out, "But only sometimes." She added with purpose.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Emily said with a smirk.

Emily couldn't help but smile as she watched Paige from across the table. She wasn't even sure why, she just felt better to have her back and somehow managing to not have her be mad at her after the rough afternoon they had. She had felt awful when Paige left the house earlier and hadn't returned for so long. Paige was right, she was being hardheaded and it hadn't been Emily's intention but at the end of the day she did in fact pick a fight. And while she did get a few reasons as to why Paige was having such a rough time with the situation like she wanted to, those tore her up inside.

She was very thankful that it was in Paige's nature to be forgiving but she didn't always feel like she deserved it as fast as she sometimes received it from her wife. Of course she wanted Paige to forgive her for everything but part of her also felt like she needed to be punished. Because she truly felt that even though Paige was the one struggling to feel like she deserved Emily it was really Emily who probably didn't deserve to have someone like Paige.

"Emily?"

Emily startled a little at the voice, her head snapping up to meet Paige's concerned eyes, "W-what?"

"You okay?" Paige asked curiously, "I think I lost you there for a moment."

"Yeah sorry, umm just got lost in my thoughts for a second, that's all." Emily said, giving Paige a smile.

"Thinking about anything in particular?" Paige asked as she stood up, finished with her food.

"Not really, just glad we're okay." She said quickly.

Paige nodded, "I'm glad we're okay too." She said moving over to drop a quick kiss on top of Emily's head, before pulling away and pointing to Emily's plate, "You done?"

Emily nodded, allowing Paige to grab her plate from in front of her. Paige took both of their plates to the sink and rinsed them off while Emily stood to put the few leftovers they had into the fridge. When Paige was done she turned to find Emily leaned against the counter waiting for her.

Paige eyed the blank look on Emily's face curiously as she took the few steps it took to get to the dark haired girl, "Are you sure you're okay?" Paige asked.

"Yeah," Emily said with a smile, gesturing down the hall with her head, "Want to go lay down and watch a movie or something?" She suggested.

Paige nodded and lightly placed her hand on the small of Emily's back, guiding her down the hall, "Yeah that sounds nice." She said, feeling exhausted from the day and not wanting to do much anymore anyways.

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"Ah, so it's one of those kind of nights huh?" Parker asked with a crooked grin as Taylor came into her view, dressed in her pajamas and holding a tub of ice-cream in her hands.

Taylor shrugged as she walked over to the couch and sat down cross legged next to Parker, "Please?" She asked, although she already knew that Parker was going to let her eat the ice-cream.

Parker grabbed the tub out of Taylor's hands and popped the lid off, glancing inside to see that it was pretty much full, "Alright you can have some," Parker said, instantly earning a tooth baring wide smile from Taylor, "But, you can't tell moms I let you eat as much as you're about to because I know you're going to take full advantage of me and go until you're sick." Parker explained through a giggle, Taylor nodding along in anticipation, "And you have to share." Parker added, stealing the spoon out of Taylor's hand and taking a big bite of ice-cream.

"Hey!" Taylor protested, reaching out for the spoon but failing to grab it as Parker leaned away from the smaller girl and held the spoon up far out of her reach.

Parker tucked her head, giving away under the weight of Taylor as she climbed over her older sister's body in attempt to get the spoon, "Fine, fine." Parker gave in, doing her best to balance the tub of ice-cream in her lap, "You win, get off." She laughed. Taylor smiled triumphantly as she slipped back down next to Parker in her previous position. Parker sat up and placed the tub in-between Tylor's Indian style crossed legs, "Knock yourself out kid."

"Thank you." Taylor said through the mouth full of ice-cream she already managed to pile into her mouth. Parker shook her head, ruffling the hair on Taylor's head.

They sat on the couch and, for the most part, quietly watched tv, Taylor contempt and mostly focused on the tub in her lap. Parker however let her mind continue to think about Kacey, who was still in their room, not having come out for anything but food throughout the day. Usually if Kacey was in a mood like this, which did tend to happen from time to time, Parker wouldn't pay much mind to it but for some reason she couldn't shake the slight worry she had.

"Hey Tay, you wouldn't happen to know what's wrong with Kace would you?" Parker asked, glancing down to Taylor, who had stopped eating for a second to look up at her.

"Nope." Taylor offered shortly and honestly, "Why?"

Parker shrugged with a sigh, "Just wondering."

"Maybe it's a boy?" Taylor suggested with a shrug, "Or a girl? Whatever you guys worry about all the time." Taylor added absentmindedly, attention back on the tv and ice-cream.

"Whatever we worry about all the time huh?" Parker asked with a raised eyebrow, letting out a short laugh when she earned a serious nod from Taylor.

"But that's okay, mama says most people your age worry about girls and boys a lot." She explained, "I don't get it but she says I will." She added with a sure nod.

Parker laughed, lightly nudging Taylor with her elbow, "You got any boys or girls you're worried about?" Parker asked teasingly.

Taylor looked up in thought, "No I don't think so. There's this girl that sits by me at school now though," Taylor explained, "She's really nice. Since she's my new best friend I guess I can worry about her if that's what I'm supposed to do."

Parker tried to bite back her laugh because of the complete seriousness of her little sister and the clearly deep thinking she was putting into this right now but it slipped from her mouth anyway. "You just do you Tay, you don't have to worry about any boys or girls if you don't want to. In fact I'd rather you give me some time to recover from getting used to Kacey being way to invested in boys, alright."

Taylor nodded her head in agreeance, although she had no clue what Parker was referring to, "Okay."

"How you doing on that ice-cream bud?" Parker asked, eyeing the slightly sickening look slipping onto the younger brunettes face.

"I think I know why mommy doesn't let me eat this much." Taylor admitted, pushing the tub towards Parker, "I feel full."

Parker slid the lid on the now melting ice-cream surprised at how much the little girl actually managed to eat, "Well you just put down more ice-cream than even fits in your stomach dude. That's probably not good." She said grimacing a little, figuring she probably should've been monitoring the little kid a little more closely.

Taylor pulled her legs out from under herself and stretched them out straight, slipping down the couch into a slump and letting out a loud groan of discomfort, "Parker." She whined.

Parker couldn't help but laugh at the dramatic sense of dying that eased off the young brunette, "Bed?" Parker asked knowingly as she stood up and looked down at Taylor who simply nodded and reached her arms up. Parker bent down and easily lifted the girl off the couch and up into her arms but grunted anyways, "You're getting to big to be carried everywhere you know."

Taylor however disagreed, burying her head into Parker's neck and whining lightly, "Nope."

"Yep." Parker retorted as she leaned down to pick up the tub of ice-cream, walking it and Taylor to the kitchen to put it away. She slipped it into the freezer before turning to head upstairs but stopped when she noticed a half full bag of cookies sitting on the table which she was pretty sure was full and unopened less than a few hours ago. "Did you eat those to?" She asked surprised.

Taylor lifted her head to peer over to where Parker was looking, shaking her head immediately, "Absolutely not."

"Taylor." Parker warned.

"Maybe one." She offered up guiltily, earning an unconvinced look from Parker, "Fine, two but that's all I'm admitting to."

"See that's information that I needed to know before you ate half a tub of ice-cream dude." Parker said playfully, internally praying to whoever was listening that Taylor wouldn't throw up in the middle of the night. Parker could handle a lot of things, throw up was not one of them.

Taylor shook her head, "No. If I told you then there would've been no ice-cream." Taylor reasoned out loud.

Parker shook her head at her sister's antics and walked Taylor up to her room, dropping her down in her bed gently, "If you wake up and don't feel good come get me or Kace okay?" Parker said as she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the covers over Taylor before reaching over for the remote and turning her tv on.

Taylor nodded sluggishly, "'Kay."

"Alright, love you munchkin." Parker said, dropping a quick kiss to the girl's cheek before standing up and leaving the room, switching the lights off on her way out. She walked to her own room and swung the door open to find Kacey sitting against her headboard, her laptop sitting in her lap.

Kacey lifted her eyes from the screen to look at Parker, "Taylor already in bed?" She asked, having heard the two girls shuffling around in the next room moments ago.

"Yeah." Parker replied shortly before dropping down onto her own bed and adding, "That little kid just ate her weight in sugar. She's not feeling to great."

Kacey rolled her eyes in disapproval, "Hmm well I wonder why." She said sarcastically.

Parker huffed in annoyance, "Come on, she's a kid. Let her do it while she still can. Plus I think she learned her lesson tonight. All the junk food you can eat isn't as good as it initially sounds."

"Whatever you say." Kacey said returning her attention to her computer.

"Well you've been fun this weekend." Parker stated, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

"Nobody's making you be around me." She sassed back without missing a beat.

Parker popped herself back up off the bed, "And that's my cue." She said walking towards the door, tired of trying with Kacey, "Let me know when you remove the giant stick from your ass." She called over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her and walking back to the living room, grabbing a blanket on her way and dropping onto the couch with a sigh.

Parker reached over and grabbed her phone off the coffee table before laying on her back and pulling the blanket up over her, getting comfortable. She sighed before calling Emily's phone and waited for her mother to pick up.

 _"_ _Hey Parker, everything okay?"_ Emily asked.

"Please come home early tomorrow, I really don't think I can make it all the way until tomorrow night." Parker whined, willing to beg if that's what she had to do. She couldn't take being in this house anymore. It wasn't like anything majorly bad or stressful happened but it was enough to agitate her to a point where she just wanted her parents to be back home.

 _"_ _Why? What's wrong?"_ Emily asked, the worry evident in her tone now. Parker heard shuffling around on the other end of the phone and figured she had sprung Emily into some sort of panic and had a brief moment where she thought about how she probably should've called Paige to unleash her dramatics but it was too late for that so she continued on.

"What's wrong? Hmm let's see," Parker started, "Kacey's had a stick up her butt all weekend, Taylor's in bed and isn't feeling good because she ate her weight in cookies and ice-cream, and I'm 10 seconds away from burying my face into this couch and suffocating myself." Parker suggested, "But hey everyone's still alive so far so I guess there's that."

 _"_ _Parker."_ Emily said sternly and it sounded like she was going to continue on but Parker cut her off with a deep sigh of guilt for worrying Emily for no real reason.

"I'm sorry, don't worry okay?" Parker tried to reassure her, "I just want you guys to come back, that's all."

Parker heard some soft mumbling on the other end and stayed silent, figuring Emily was talking to Paige. It didn't take more than a few moments before Emily's voice returned in her ear, _"Just hang in there okay baby?"_ Emily said gently, _"We'll probably be home around noon tomorrow okay. Until then just relax. If Taylor wakes up and still doesn't feel good there's some medicine in the cabinet that will settle her stomach, give her a little bit of that. As far as Kacey, I don't know, just give her some space if that's what she wants, we'll try to figure it out when we get home tomorrow."_

Parker nodded along as Emily talked, feeling a little calmer having Emily telling her what she was supposed to do, "Thanks mama." She said softly.

Emily hummed in response, _"Of course. If you need anything else call me or your mom okay?"_

"Okay. Sorry for interrupting your night."

 _"_ _Don't be, we're just watching a movie."_ Parker nodded even though Emily couldn't see her, _"We love you and we'll see you tomorrow, think you can make it 'til then?"_ Emily asked, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

"Yeah." Parker responded with a small smile, "Hopefully." She added.

Emily laughed, _"Good. See you tomorrow Park."_

"Okay mama, love you. Bye."

 _"_ _Bye."_

Emily tossed her phone onto the bedside table before turning back to Paige, "Everything okay?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sounds like Kacey and Parker aren't getting along and Taylor is sick." Emily explained shortly.

Paige let out a sigh, "Could you imagine how bad they'd all fall apart if we had to leave those three alone for any kind of actual significant period of time?" Paige asked shaking her head.

Emily giggled at the look of zero faith on Paige's face, "Yeah I don't think they'd last very long." Emily agreed, leaning her head back down against Paige's shoulder, scooting closer to her in the process.

Paige shifted her arm behind Emily, allowing the girl to move closer. They had been absentmindedly watching movies for the last few hours, making some small talk here and there but mostly just sitting in each other's company silently. Once they were both comfortable again they easily slipped back into that comfortable silence as they continued to watch a movie that to be honest they were both kind of disinterested in.

"Hey." Emily muttered out quietly to get Paige's attention, shifting her head on Paige's shoulder to glance up at her. Paige simply hummed out a response to let Emily know she heard her, waiting for Emily to continue, "I really don't deserve you." Emily said, releasing a shaky breath, finally deciding to voice what she had been thinking about earlier.

Paige tilted her head down to look at Emily in thought, "That's not true." She stated softly, bringing her hand up to stroke Emily's cheek softly with her thumb.

"Yes it is." Emily returned, the sureness and brokenness of the statement making Paige's heart break a little.

"We all make mistakes sometimes Em." She stated, placing her fingers under Emily's chin to lift her now dropped head back up to meet her eyes, "You're taking responsibility for it and I think that proves you love me." She said pressing a kiss to the tip of Emily's nose and smiling warmly at her.

"I'm sorry." Emily said again, not knowing exactly what it was directed at. She was sorry for a lot of things and although Paige had already told her she could stop apologizing for everything she couldn't help herself. She felt the need to voice it every chance she got.

"It's okay." Paige said sincerely, "I love you Em." She promised, dipping her head slightly to reach Emily's lips and give her a small kiss, "Always." She whispered, resting her forehead against Emily's.

"I love you too." Emily responded just as softly before leaning in to connect their lips again for another kiss.


	31. Chapter 31

**I had so much more that I wanted to include in this chapter but I've had no time to write lately and I really wanted to get this up so I just decided to split the chapter up because I just really can't put off posting this anymore. So this is part 1. I hope you guys like it since you had to wait so long, sorry if it's not up to par.**

 **Also a lot people have been asking if I have a tumblr or something for some reason so my tumblr is commndr-lp if any of you want to go there and yell at me for being slow and sucking I guess.**

Paige walked out the back door of the house and found Emily standing out in the open space. Her back was to Paige, arms crossed over her chest as she stared out into the open space. Paige stopped on the back porch and took the opportunity to take in her wife, the scene taking her back to when they were younger. Paige however wasn't given a chance to get too lost in past memories due to Emily feeling eyes on her and turning, offering Paige a soft smile, "Hey." Emily said, her voice being muffled by the light wind.

"What are you doing out here?" Paige asked as she slowly approached Emily, stopping next to her and shoving her hands in her pocket, letting her own eyes take in the beauty of the open field in front of them that Emily had been admiring before she interrupted.

Emily shrugged even though Paige was no longer looking at her, "I forgot how pretty it was out here." She said, "I can't believe it's been so long since you and Dave built this place out here. It feels like yesterday."

Paige let out a sigh, letting a moment of silence fall over them before speaking, "Time went by fast didn't it?"

Emily simply nodded in response, not adding anything else as she took a moment to let her own mind wander back to the past, "Things were a lot easier back then weren't they?"

Paige finally moved her gaze from the scene and over to peer at the side of Emily's face, "Maybe, yeah." She agreed, nodding her head slowly, "But things aren't so bad now." She added, "Are they?" She asked, wondering for the first time in a long time if Emily was unhappy with the way things turned out in life.

She knew it was stupid to even let that thought creep into her mind. Of course Emily was happy with the way their lives had turned out. But she was right, things weren't always as easy as they used to be. When it was just Emily and her in that tiny apartment a few miles away from the college they were attending at the time. Nothing to worry about but each other.

Emily turned to meet Paige's slightly concerned gaze and shook her head softly, "No. Things aren't so bad now." She answered reassuringly, stepping to her side and slipping her arms around Paige's waist.

Paige instinctively pulled one of her hands out of her pockets and hung it securely around Emily's shoulders as her wife cuddled closer into her side, resting her head on her shoulder, "I mean I know we didn't plan for things to go exactly like they have, by any means." Paige said letting out a sigh, "But I wouldn't have done it any other way."

"Really?" Emily asked softly.

"No doubt." Paige said certainly, "I mean think about it. All the things that have changed since we met."

Emily looked up at Paige curiously, urging her to continue on. "I mean before I met you I didn't think any of this was in the cards for me. Marriage. Kids. None of it was planned for me Em, you know that."

Emily nodded her head along as Paige spoke knowing that it was all true. When they got serious and started talking about marriage and kids, Paige wasn't sure if she wanted any of it. She remembers waiting very impatiently for Paige to propose, dropping hints that she was ready and slipping the topic into conversations as frequently as she could while still trying to be dignified. Failing miserably though, almost ending up going as far as to say 'screw it' and asking Paige herself. But eventually Paige asked her once she was ready and although she would've rather not waited so long for Paige to be ready, it made it that much sweeter to her now to know that Paige had thought about it and genuinely wanted it.

Then Emily got baby fever not to long after the proposal and she'll never forget the look of complete and utter fear on Paige's face when she blurted out one night that she wanted to start trying to start a family. Emily knew at the time that kids weren't necessarily on Paige's mind and maybe never would be something she wanted but it didn't stop Emily from doing everything she could to convince her anyways. Eventually Paige warmed up to the idea and it was Emily's turn to stare in shock when Paige simply blurted out 'okay' one night when they were sitting on the couch. Then came Parker. Kacey shortly after that. And then Taylor a little further down the road and Emily knew that when Paige said she was glad things didn't go as planned she was telling the truth.

"That's why I was always so scared." Paige admitted with a small laugh, "You scared me because you made me go off script." She explained, "Kissing you for the first time in the school parking lot wasn't planned. Me by some sort of miracle actually convincing a girl like you to give me a shot afterwards wasn't planned. Falling in love in what felt like overnight. You loving me back all the way up until now." Paige listed off, "None of it planned but all of it better than I could have ever imagine."

Emily stared at Paige with loving eyes. Paige didn't open up and share how she felt often so when she did Emily absorbed the way her wife's words made her heart swell. And Emily silently agrees, she didn't plan for Paige either. It shocked her how easy it was to fall in love with the girl who took her by surprise one late night in the school parking lot. She never saw it coming and she thanks whatever higher power there may be out there that gave Paige the short lived moment of bravery to do it so they could have what they do today.

"I'm glad you went off script." Emily admitted out loud, the corner of her lips slipping upward into a smirk as she turned herself in Paige's arms and slid her own around Paige's neck, feeling Paige's hands fall easily and naturally to her hips as she closed the gap between them.

The kiss is soft and slow but it lights a fire in both of them, the memories of their unorthodox love story fresh in their minds allowing them to pour every bit of passion they had for each other into it. It didn't last long though, Paige pulling away slowly with a dopey smile on her face, the one that Emily has been in love with since she was a kid in high school.

"I'm glad I did too." Paige said with a sure nod, "If I hadn't I'd probably be married to some guy who's not half as good looking as you are." Paige joked, clearly finding herself funny.

Emily dropped her arms from around her wife's neck and smacked Paige's chest with the back of her hand as she rolled her eyes but failed to hold back the chuckle that slipped from her lips, "You're an idiot." Emily stated lovingly.

Paige shrugged with a pleased smile on her face, not even bothering to deny it, "Ready to head out?" She asked gesturing back towards the house as she dropped her arm back over Emily's shoulder. Emily nodded her head, slipping her arm loosely around Paige's waist and walked back towards the house.

The drive home wasn't bad in reality but to Emily it felt much longer for them to get home then it had previously taken on their way up to their getaway spot. Paige watched amusedly from the corner of her eye as Emily impatiently bounced her leg in the passenger seat for most of the ride home. This was the first time Emily had been away from the kids for more than a few hours since she came back home after the accident and by how much Emily had been talking about the kids the last two days it was obvious she missed her babies.

Once they pulled off the freeway and got closer to their house Paige saw Emily light up and while being away from the kids for a while wasn't a big deal for Paige anymore she thought it was completely adorable how excited Emily looked as they pulled up into the garage.

Paige climbed out of the car and walked to the back hatch to get their bags out, Emily meeting her by the back of the car, "Go ahead." Paige said gesturing to the house, "I know you missed them." Paige said with a knowing smile.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked feeling a little bad for having Paige haul both of their things in and out of the car herself the last few day, but already backing towards the door to the house anyways.

"I can handle a few bags Emily." Paige assured, shooing Emily away, "Go."

Emily smiled gratefully, leaving Paige to grab the bags out of the back hatch as she walked into the house through the door in the garage, "Hello?" She called out as she walked a little deeper into the kitchen.

"Mama!" Emily heard before she saw Taylor dash around the corner and sprint straight for her, a wide smile immediately falling onto Emily's face.

Emily stumbled back and let out a small laugh as Taylor jumped into her arms, Emily holding onto her and pulling her up easily, "Hey Tay!" She greeted happily, planting light kisses all over the girls face, pulling back as the little girl started to squirm in laughter, "I missed you."

Taylor beamed at her, "I missed you too!" She returned excitedly before looking over Emily's shoulder in search, "Where's mommy?"

Emily gently returned the girl back down to the ground before stepping to the side and gesturing towards the garage, "She's getting some stuff out of the car, why don't you go help her."

Emily could barely get the sentence out before Taylor was running past her and shooting out into the garage. Emily shook her head, a smile on her face before she walked deeper into the house in search for her other two kids. She didn't have to go far, finding Parker sprawled out on the couch fast asleep. She walked over and sat on the edge next to Parker, lightly brushing some hair out of her face.

"Parker." Emily said softly, trying to wake the girl up which didn't take much. The teen's eyes quickly blinked open and Emily frowned at how exhausted she looked, "Hey." She said sympathetically, still running her fingers through Parker's hair soothingly.

A sleepy smile formed on Parker's lips, "Oh man, you don't know how happy I am to see you." She said lifting her torso up to wrap her arms around Emily's neck and squeezing her tightly.

Emily returned the hug, laughing lightly at the relief coming from Parker, "That bad huh?" Emily asked as she pulled back and looked at Parker as the girl ran her hand through her hair with a sigh.

"Just a long weekend." She admitted.

"Sounded like it." Emily said, referring to the call she got from Parker the other night.

Parker nodded, "Taylor had a rough night. She kept waking up throughout the night saying she didn't feel good and I gave her the medicine that you told me too but she was wide awake. I couldn't get her to go to sleep." She informed Emily before dropping back down onto the couch and pulling the blanket back over her torso and tucked it under her chin, "She kept me up all night."

Emily laughed as Parker snuggled into the blanket and closed her eyes, "Why are you out here on the couch?"

"Me and Taylor slept out here." She explained, "Kacey's been in a weird mood so I figured it'd be best for both of our sanities for me to just leave her be like you told me too and then Taylor came down in the middle of the night and never left."

"Okay, I'll go talk to your sister and see if I can find out what's going on with her." Emily said with a sigh, worried about what could be wrong with Kacey, "Why don't you go back to sleep, I'll wake you up in a little bit okay?"

Parker nodded not needing much convincing, already starting to nod off to sleep. Emily stood up and walked upstairs, knocking gently on Kacey and Parker's bedroom door before peaking her head inside, "Hey, we're back." She said with a smile when she saw Kacey sitting up in bed on her computer.

"Hey mama." She greeted, standing up off the bed and meeting Emily in the middle to wrap her into a hug.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked once Kacey pulled away and returned to her spot on the bed.

"Just messing around online." She said with a shrug, "Not much to do today."

Emily nodded as she climbed onto the bed and sat cross legged at the end of it, facing Kacey. "So how was your weekend?"

"Fine. Didn't really do anything but sit around." Kacey said, shutting her laptop and setting it on her bedside table as Emily watched her carefully. Kacey let out a sigh when she saw Emily staring at her with a look on her face, obviously waiting for something more, "What?" Kacey asked, wondering why Emily was looking at her like that.

Emily softly shook her head, "Nothing, I just figured with us away you guys would have a little more fun than you apparently did." She explained, "That's all." She said with a shrug, standing up from the bed and looking down at Kacey.

"What'd Parker say to you?" Kacey asked quickly, trying to sound calm but coming off a little panicked.

Emily narrowed her eyes at Kacey's reaction, "Nothing. Why, is there something I should know about?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked down at Kacey, easily slipping back into mom mode.

"Nope." Kacey let out with a pop as she averted her eyes away from Emily's.

The room fell into silence for a few long moments. Kacey slightly squirming under her mother's intense stare but pretending to occupy herself with her phone, hoping Emily would leave it at that. However it didn't take long for Emily to break the silence in concern.

"Is everything okay with you?" Emily asked hesitantly knowing very well that Kacey had been touchy lately.

"Can everyone stop asking me if I'm okay?" Kacey grumbled out. She felt like she could never get attention in this house and the one time she doesn't want it people wouldn't leave her alone, "I'm fine."

"Okay, sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Emily said sincerely as she started to back out of the room, "We're all downstairs though if you want to come hang out. We missed you."

Kacey nodded, forcing a small smile onto her face, "I'll come down in a little bit."

Emily took that as a win and nodded in appreciation before leaving the room and walking back downstairs finding Paige and Taylor in the kitchen. Emily shook her head as she gestured behind Paige, "Could they not clean up after themselves a little?" She asked referring to the pile of dishes in the sink, some not even making it inside but left abandoned on the counter.

Paige laughed as she grabbed Emily's wrist, stopping her from reaching the sink and pulled her towards her, "I'll take care of them later." She promised, kissing Emily's temple quickly.

"Thank you." Emily sighed out in appreciation.

"How is it that we've been home for ten minutes and you're already stressed out?" Paige asked with a smirk as she leaned against the counter.

"Good question." Emily stated in disbelief herself, "I just- I'm worried about Kacey and I feel bad that Taylor got sick when we were gone, then Parker had to deal with it and is exhausted." She explained letting out another heavy sigh, "I just feel bad, that's all."

"Em," Paige said trying to get her wife to lift her dropped head and look at her. When Emily did she was met with a smile of understanding from Paige, "Don't feel bad, okay? I know you aren't used to leaving them by themselves but they're all fine." She reassured, "Kacey and Parker probably fought about something stupid and no one was here to play interference so they haven't worked it out yet." Pausing for a moment to make sure Emily was listening to what she was saying.

Emily nodded at the possibility before Paige continued, "And Taylor didn't catch some virus while you were gone, she got sick cause she took advantage of having Parker in charge and indulged on sweets until she was sick." She said shooting a disapproving look over her shoulder at Taylor who had an innocent smile on her face as she listened to Paige, who turned back around to refocus on Emily, "And I'm not saying Parker deserved to have to take care of a kid who was simultaneously on a sugar rush and on the verge of throwing up but she was kind of responsible for it happening in the first place."

Emily nodded in agreeance but didn't say anything else. Paige waited for a moment before she smiled while shaking her head, "You still feel bad don't you?"

"Of course I do." Emily responded instantaneously, a guilty look in her eyes.

"Well I tried." Paige said playfully with a shrug, "Speaking of our offspring, where's our other two?" Paige asked having expected them to follow Emily in.

"Kacey said she would be down in a minute and Parker's asleep on the couch." Emily said before looking at Taylor who was sat up on the counter, her feet loosely hanging over the edge as Paige leaned on the counter next to her, "Anything crazy happen while we were gone that you can clue us in on?"

Taylor looked up in thought seriously before returning her eyes to Emily's and shaking her head vigorously, "Nope."

"You sure?" Paige added.

Taylor giggled at the way Paige lifted her eyebrow and looked at her overdramatically suspiciously, "Mhmm." She hummed out in response pushing her face farther forward to nearly come nose to nose with Paige.

Paige quickly darted her tongue out, successfully nicking Taylor's nose with the tip of her tongue, earning a squeal from the little girl as she pulled back quickly while laughing as she wiped at her nose. Emily simple shook her head as she watched on with an endearing smile.

Emily knew Paige and her were too old to have another baby but she had to admit that watching Paige interact with their youngest daughter made Emily want another one. She wanted to be able to experience the entire thing over again for herself. Of course she knew if she ever voiced that out loud to Paige her wife may have a heart attack.

Emily giggled as she pictured the scenario in her head, drawing Paige's attention back to her, "What are you suddenly so giddy about?" Paige asked as she lifted Taylor off the counter and set her back on the floor, allowing her to run off towards the living room.

Emily shook her head, "Nothing." She said as she hung her arms loosely around Paige's neck, "I just really love watching you with them." She beamed, pecking Paige's lips soft, "It never gets old."

Paige's face instantly fell as she saw that look in Emily's eye, "Absolutely not." She said as she separated herself from Emily.

"What?" Emily asked amused at Paige clearly figuring out what she had been thinking.

"Oh don't even try." Paige warned, pointing a finger at Emily accusingly, "I know that look in your eyes Emily. It's not happening."

Emily laughed when she tried to step closer to Paige and the brunette simply moved back further away from her, "Stop." Emily giggled out, grabbing Paige's arm and tugging her closer, "It was just a thought." She said, kissing Paige again briefly, "I know that time has passed."

Paige's body instantly relaxed in relief, "Good." She said letting her hands fall to rest on Emily's hips, "Although we did make some pretty cute kids."

"Yeah," Emily nodded in agreeance, "I think they're pretty great."

"I'm all for the baby making process though." Paige said with a smirk, walking Emily back until she had her pinned gently against the counter, "But I'm sure you already know that." She said as she playfully nipped at Emily's neck, pushing their body's closer together.

Emily tried to push the other woman off of her as she laughed, "I don't think that's how it works for us." She said, "But I'm sure you already know that." She teased.

"We can always pretend." Paige said huskily, her face still buried in the crook of Emily's neck.

Emily knew her wife was just teasing her but she felt a shudder shoot through her body as the words slipped from Paige's mouth. And much to Emily's displeasure it was obvious that Paige knew Emily was turned on. Paige pressed one last soft kiss to Emily's neck before pulling away enough to meet her wife's eyes for a moment, then closing the gap between them and connecting their lips in a heated kiss.

"Definitely didn't miss that." Kacey interrupted the short lived kiss as she reached the bottom of the stairs and made her way into the living room, not bothering to stick around for a response from her parents.

Paige groaned as she dropped her head to Emily's shoulder, "Yep, we're definitely back home."

Emily laughed, pecking the side of Paige's head quickly, "Come on." She said, slipping away from Paige and tugging her along to the living room to join their three girls.

The rest of the night consisting of them simply hanging out as a family. The kids asking their parents about their short trip and Emily and Paige filling them in on how it was. All of them calling it a night early due to the slightly exhausting weekend they endured.

The next morning went smoothly and everyone got out of the house roughly on time. The day however had ticked by slowly for Kacey once she got to school and she was growing more and more frustrated due to the fact that she couldn't for the life of her find the person she had been looking for throughout the day. When the final bell rang out she rushed to the library, it being the last place she knew to look.

Kacey let her eyes dart around the room once she got there, hoping to spot the girl she had decided she was going to talk to today over the weekend. When she didn't see her immediately she moved quickly to the back of the room where she knew the girl most likely was. She let out a sigh of relief when she spotted her sitting at the table in the back corner, hidden by the bookshelves. Kacey walked straight over to the girl, stopping right next to her and wasted no time in ripping the headphones out of the girl's ears in order to get her attention. The girl whipped her head up to look at Kacey in surprise.

"Where have you been all day?" Kacey asked slightly annoyed at how hard it was to find her.

The girl glanced up at Kacey confused before looking behind the tanned girl and around her own surroundings before meeting Kacey's gaze again, "I don't know. Around?" She answered unsure of what was going on.

"I've been looking for you everywhere Brooke." Kacey grunted out in frustration.

Brooke glanced around again, still completely lost, "Umm, why?"

"Because I want to have sex." Kacey stated confidently.

The blonde in front of her choked on air at the admittance and struggled to gain her composure as her eyes remained wide, "W-with me?" Brooke asked incredulously.

Kacey narrowed her eyes at Brooke in confusion, "What? No, not with you." She said in surprise, suddenly becoming a little shy.

Brooke let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and shook her head lightly as relief washed over her and she cleared her throat awkwardly, "I think you need to work on your approach there, you came off a bit misleading." She explained hesitantly.

Kacey backtracked on her words in her head and nodded in agreeance as she realized how she had approached Brooke, "Sorry." She said a little bit embarrassed but quickly shook it off, "So can you help me?"

"Okay first of all why are you even telling me this right now?" Brooke asked, dropping her pen and turning to give her full attention to Kacey, "We hardly even know each other and it's a little weird."

"Because I'm definitely not going to tell my sister, she already flipped out at the mere thought of a boy touching me in any way. And I'd be mortified if I had to tell either one of my mom's. My best friend is a virgin so I'm assuming she wouldn't be much help and I don't really have anybody else to talk to about it." Kacey explained shyly, "So I figured you could help me." She said with a small shrug of her shoulders, "I decided you were the most experienced person I knew."

Brooke let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling bad for the girl but also knowing that her having any type of interaction with Kacey was probably a terrible idea, especially under the circumstances that Kacey is trying to involve her under. "I don't think that's such a good idea Kacey." Brooke stated as nicely as she could, "You're sister would kill me if she found out I encouraged you to have sex." She said huffing out a small laugh at the thought of Parker's reaction, "Could you imagine?"

Kacey rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated groan, "She won't know. This isn't about her, it's about me and what I want."

Brooke was slightly taken back by the tone of Kacey's voice, never really having heard her speak in an aggressive, demanding way before. It wasn't like they were exactly friends. Brooke helped Kacey out with schoolwork once or twice when Kacey had asked when she ran into Brooke in the library but other than that they were complete strangers.

Brooke started gathering her stuff up and threw it into her bag, doing whatever she could to ignore the disappointed eyes that were staring down at her, "Sorry kid, but I can't help you." The blonde stated as she stood up and moved around Kacey to get by her.

Kacey let out a small sigh before turning on her heels to stop Brooke, "Wait." She said, rushing to stand in front of the other girl, "Have you by any chance seen Parker today?"

Brooke narrowed her eyes in question at Kacey, curious as to why she was asking, "No. I wouldn't say we're exactly on good terms at the moment." She said rolling her eyes.

Kacey smirked a little knowing she could get under Brooke's skin the same way she knew how to get under Parker's. She just had to play her cards right, "Hmm interesting." She said with a small shrug and then turned to walk away from Brooke.

"Interesting?" Brooke called out flatly after Kacey. She wasn't stupid. She knew the other girl was trying to get some sort of rise out of her but she played right into it anyways, curiosity getting the best of her.

"Just think it's weird, that's all." Kacey said, shrugging again as she turned back to look at Brooke, who leaned against one of the bookshelves.

"Get to it little McCullers." Brooke encouraged impatiently, "Let's hear it. What's your play?"

"I need help and you may not know it yet but I can be a big help to you too." Kacey suggested, peaking Brooke's interest, "You help me with what I want and I'll help you. That way we're both getting something out of it." She tried hopefully.

Brooke chuckled lightly, "Yeah and what do I need help with?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

"Parker." Kacey stated as if it was obvious.

Brooke let out a larger laugh this time as she shook her head, "I don't need help with Parker."

"So it doesn't bug you that Parker has already asked someone else out on a date?" Kacey threw out there.

"Ugh, that McKenna girl?" Brooke asked clearly annoyed pushing herself off the bookshelf, causing Kacey to smirk as she nodded in confirmation, "Well that didn't take long. You know I knew Parker liked her." Brooke said growing frustrated easily but quickly calming back down when she saw the smirk planted on Kacey's face, "But that's fine," She said regaining her composure and shrugging casually, "I don't care. She can do whatever she wants."

This time Kacey was the one left laughing, "Yeah okay, sure. Look, you need me. I can be like your inside man." She suggested, "You know, I can tell you what I know and since you and Parker aren't exactly best friends right now hanging around me will give you an excuse to run into her. So really you kind of do need me."

Brooke took in Kacey's words and thought about it. To say Parker would be livid if she found out about any of this would be an understatement and Brooke knew that. So did Kacey. Parker also made it clear that she was trying to move on and Brooke had agreed to let her do that but what was the harm in just keeping an eye on the other girl, she thought. Maybe they could work their way into being friends again or something. Brooke looked back up at Kacey's hopeful face and hesitantly nodded after a moment, "Fine."

Kacey nearly squealed in excitement causing Brooke to laugh, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She said throwing her arms around the blonde who immediately stiffened, making no move to reciprocate the action. Kacey pulled away and took a step back, putting her arms up in apology, "Right sorry. We're not there yet. Got it. That's cool." Kacey said as she continued to walk backwards, "Hey I got to get to practice but just come by my house tonight around 7 'kay?"

"Maybe I'm busy." Brooke called back.

"No you're not." Kacey called back knowingly, now fully out of Brooke's sight.

Brooke grumbled, not knowing what in the world made her agree to this. Parker was going to kill her, that she knew. But she couldn't find it in herself to care enough as she walked out of the library and towards the end of the hallway, deciding to head home early but stopped in her tracks when she spotted Parker leaned up against the lockers while McKenna dug through her locker as she listened to Parker talk. And Brooke couldn't help the daggers she shot across the hall at the girl next to Parker when she laughed and although Parker's back was turned to her Brooke could easily picture the dopey smile that was surely planted on Parker's face from successfully making McKenna laugh. And as she turned down another hallway, deciding to take the long way to her car to avoid passing the two girls, she suddenly didn't feel so bad about agreeing to help Kacey.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

"Hey mom I'm leaving." Parker called over her shoulder as she rushed down the stairs. She was supposed to pick up McKenna in a little while and she was running a little late.

"Okay, have fun. Be home before 11." Emily called back from somewhere upstairs.

Parker was headed for the garage when she heard the doorbell ring. She let out a sigh and rushed over to the front door, swinging it open without much thought but immediately being surprised when she found Brooke on the other side. Parker stared in confusion for a moment before speaking, "Umm hey." She fumbled out, not really sure why Brooke was standing in front of her, "Everything okay?"

Brooke nodded, "Yeah, everything's fine." She answered with a reassuring smile.

"Okay." Parker dragged out, unsure. "So I see you finally found the front door." She joked after a few moments of awkward silence, trying her best to lighten the obvious uncomfortable tension between them.

Brooke let out a small laugh, "Definitely a lot easier than scaling fences to get in your backyard or climbing up the side of your house to get to your room."

Parker nodded in agreeance and was about to ask why Brooke was here when Kacey came out of nowhere and interrupted her, "Hey Brooke." Kacey greeted casually.

"Ready?" Brooke asked, moving her eyes past Parker and over to the younger McCullers, who nodded.

Kacey moved past Parker and to Brooke's side without a word like this was something that happened every day, "Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute." Parker stammered out, halting both girls as her eyes narrowed in question while they quickly darted between her sister and the other girl, "I'm sorry, d-did I miss something here?"

"What do you mean?" Kacey asked, playing dumb.

Parker continued to stare at the girls, not sure what was going on. Kacey and Brooke weren't friends, "Y-you guys are what? Hanging out?"

Brooke nodded as a small smirk slid onto her face, taking pleasure in the shocked look settled on Parker's face, "Don't worry McCullers I won't corrupt her too bad." Brooke said with a wink before turning around and leading Kacey to her car, leaving Parker gaping in the doorway.

Parker stood there dumbfounded as she watched Brooke's car pull away from the curb and disappear around the corner. She slowly closed the door as she tried to wrap her head around what she just witnessed. She didn't even know that Kacey and Brooke talked to each other let alone were on a friendly enough basis to actually hang out.

"Mom!" Parker called out, immediately turning towards the stairs and making a beeline for her parent's room, "Mama!" She called trying to get either of her parent's attention as she made her way down the hallway.

Emily lifted her head off of Paige's chest and sat up, "So much for a quiet night." She grumbled down at Paige who wasn't nearly as surprised as Emily at the interruption. Emily shifted slightly to face the door just in time to see Parker barge through the doorway, "What's wrong?" Emily asked as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying her best to sound invested in whatever problem Parker was currently having.

Emily barely could get the question out before Parker cut in, "Do you know anything about that?"

Emily's face scrunched up in confusion as she glanced down at Paige to see if she knew what Parker was talking about but her wife wasn't even acknowledging the situation, her attention focused on the tv more than anything. Emily let out a sigh as she looked back at Parker, "Know anything about what?"

"That." Parker stated firmly as she gestured in the general direction of the front door that was far out of sight as if everyone knew what she had just endured downstairs, "Kacey and Brooke."

"Oh." Emily said, the confusion washing off her face quickly in understanding, "Kacey said she made plans with one of her friends to hang out. I figured since last week was a rough one for her that it'd be good for her to get out." She explained, "I didn't know it was Brooke though. But I'm glad she has someone to talk to." Emily said not seeing the big deal.

Parker scoffed in disbelief, looking behind Emily to see if Paige was on her side but Paige's eyes remained glued to the tv so Parker returned her eyes to Emily, "Someone to talk to? Mama this is Brooke we're talking about here. I don't exactly think that's her thing." Parker stated dryly, "When did those two even become friends? How could I have missed that? Why did no one tell me?" Parker asked aloud, more so thinking out loud then looking for an actual answer from Emily.

"Parker." Emily said in attempt to stop Parker but she continued to rant in the corner of the room, her hands flying around her in meaningless gestures as she talked, "Parker." Emily tried again a little louder, finally bringing the girl's words to a halt and grabbing her daughter's attention, "Breathe."

Parker nodded and took a deep breathe, letting it out slowly, "I'm good." She said as she continued to breathe in and out a little more rushed now, "I'm cool." She said continuing on with the loud in and out breathing as a worried look plastered over her face.

Emily tried her honest to god best but she couldn't hold back the hardy laugh that came from the scene in front of her. She stood up from the bed and put her hand on Parker's shoulder causing the girl to go completely still, "What's the big deal Parker?" Emily asked, "They're just hanging out."

Parker nodded, immediately calming down under Emily's light touch. She didn't know how to answer that. Emily was right, it shouldn't be a big deal but it was. Just seeing the other girl sent her mind into a frenzy and she didn't know how to stop it from happening. Brooke just made her crazy. And the way Kacey had been acting lately she just couldn't imagine that the two could possibly be up to anything good.

"I thought you had somewhere to be?" Emily reminded the girl in front of her, knowing that Brooke showing up out of the blue had caused Parker to completely forget that she was heading out in the first place.

Parker's body jolted from the reminder, pulling her phone out of her pocket and looking at the time, "Oh man, I'm going to be so late." She rushed out in panic as she ran out of the room, "Bye, I'll be home by 11." She called back behind her as she ran down the stairs and out of the house.

Emily shook her head as she stared down the empty hallway before crawling back onto the bed where Paige was still watching tv, "You're so helpful." She grumbled out as she laid her head back down on Paige's chest and draped her arm over her waist.

Paige let out a small laugh and looked down at Emily, "You seemed like you had it under control." She said, wrapping an arm around Emily snuggly, "You're getting good with them again you know."

Emily nodded, a faint smile appearing on her face, "While I'd much rather prefer a quite night without them running to me with their problems, part of me really loves it." She admitted, "Not them having problems but them coming to me to help solve them. I like it. It makes me feel like they need me."

"They do."

"Yeah." Emily agreed, immediately thinking about how Parker was in her last year of high school already and as typical and cheesy it was Emily was really dreading the possibility of Parker going off to college. She didn't want to miss anything else of any of her girl's lives and she wasn't ready to let go of any of them just yet.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

Brooke pulled up to her house and got out of the car, Kacey following behind the girl, "Okay I may get more out of tormenting Parker than getting help from you." Kacey admitted jokingly as she followed closely behind Brooke as they walked into the house, "Did you see the look on her face?"

Brooke laughed as she nodded, leading Kacey up the stairs and down the hall towards her bedroom, stopping when Carly popped out of her own room and into the hallway. Brooke's sister looked between the two momentarily before letting out a hardy laugh, "Oh man Parker's going to kill you." She said, patting Brooke on the shoulder as she walked by her, "Can I please be there when you tell her you're putting the moves on her baby sister?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at the pair.

"I'm not putting the moves on anyone." Brooke corrected instantly.

"Whatever you're doing, if it irritates Parker I'm all for it." Carly said, "I'm going out, alright? Don't wait up." She said making her way down the stairs and out of the house, leaving Kacey and Brooke alone for the night.

Brooke rolled her eyes before walking to her bedroom and letting Kacey in, "Alright so, what do you need my help with?" Brooke asked, dropping down and sitting on the edge of the bed, not really sure what Kacey wanted from her.

Kacey stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, her eyes casually glancing around, "You know." She said quietly, looking back towards Brooke who nodded.

Brooke could tell Kacey was nervous and to be honest so was she. She kept to herself for the most part. Of course she was well known in regards to the social scene at school but that was mostly because she went to parties with her sister often. She knew a lot of people and a lot of people knew who she was but she wasn't necessarily close with any of those people. She didn't want to be.

"Here, sit down." The blonde said, gesturing to the bed before standing up and walking over to grab her laptop off the floor in the corner. Kacey did what she was told and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Brooke, who sat down at the head of the bed once she returned, Indian style, laptop settled in front of her, "Come here." The blonde said, pointing to the spot across from her.

Kacey was hesitant and suddenly felt nervous about asking someone who she wasn't exactly familiar with for help on this subject, but nonetheless she scooted up toward the head of the bed and sat on the other side of the laptop that was facing Brooke, who was typing something into the computer.

"So how far have you gone?" Brooke asked lifting her eyes up from the screen briefly to look at Kacey before returning them to the screen. Brooke felt a little uncomfortable but she was doing her best to push through knowing that the other girl was probably just as nervous, most likely even more.

"Umm…" Kacey hummed out as she messed with the hem of her shirt in embarrassment, "Not very." She murmured out with a shrug, "Kissing, obviously. A little touching but nothing really below the waist."

A small grin that Brooke tried to suppress crept onto her face as she stopped what she was doing on the laptop and looked up at Kacey, finding a slightly scared look on the younger girl's face. Brooke marveled at how innocent the raven haired girl truly was. Brooke took a deep breath as she thought about what she was going to tell the girl. She was never one to tell someone else what to do, but she knew more about Kacey than Kacey probably realized she did from listening to Parker talk about her little sister and it was clear that something wasn't right.

"You aren't ready." Brooke finally said.

Kacey was surprised by this, "What?" She asked taken back, "How would you know that?" She asked defensively.

Brooke pursed her lips together as she stared at the girl across from her, "I know it isn't what you wanted to hear but if you want my advice then it's that you aren't ready." She stated with a shrug, basically telling Kacey to take it or leave it.

Kacey huffed in disbelief, "Well I didn't ask if you thought I was ready, I asked for you to help me with…" Kacey stopped a little frustrated and flustered as she tried to think of how to communicate to Brooke what she was looking for, "Help with what to do during. Or I don't know, to help me know what to expect."

"You don't want to have sex Kacey." Brooke deadpanned again barely letting the girl finish, "Take it from someone who jumped the gun when it came to sex. You'll regret it."

Kacey stopped abruptly, not having expected Brooke to tell her something personal like that, "You regret your first time?" Kacey asked hesitantly, not wanting to step over any boundaries but genuinely curious to hear what the other girl had to say.

Brooke sighed and nodded, oddly not minding being asked, "I wasn't really ready. I didn't even know what was happening through most of it to be honest." Brooke said with a small laugh, "One minute I was kissing him in the middle of a crowded party and the next thing I know I'm alone in someone's bedroom with him and my pants on the floor." She explained harshly, hatign the pitied look Kacey was directing towards her.

"It was fast and awkward." She continued, "I guess I thought it'd make me feel better or something, I don't really know what I was thinking. But in the end it just made me feel bad about myself and it fixed none of my problems at all. Then you know, there's that whole being a lesbian thing I got going on too so." Brooke said playfully, trying not to let the mood get to heavy. She didn't think her nor Kacey could bare an intense conversation about her personally bad choices, although she was finding it much easier to open up to Kacey than most people.

Kacey chuckled lightly along with Brooke, starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the other girl, "It was really that bad?" She asked sadly, starting to rethink her own situation.

"So, so bad." Brooke admitted shaking her head, cringing at the memories of that night that came rushing back into her mind, "You know Derek?" She asked bashfully.

"No!" Kacey exclaimed in shock, "Your first time was not with Derek?!" Brooke rubbed her face in embarrassment, hiding her surely red face in her hands as she nodded slowly, sending Kacey into a fit of laughter, "Oh my god, he's such a meat head." She said rolling onto her back as another loud laugh slipped out of her mouth.

"He was sweet back then. He used to have a good head on his shoulders, you know back before the growth spurt and the muscles." Brooke did her best to defend. "Plus I was a good three or four tequila shots in. My judgment was more than a little blurred." She added looking down at Kacey whose laughing had died down. They both looked at each other in silence for a short moment before bursting out into laughter again.

Both girls slowly regained their composure and the room eventually fell silent again. "Don't let your first time be with a Derek." Brooke stated sincerely, hoping that Kacey would listen to her for the younger girl's own sake.

Kacey nodded in understanding, the blonde girl in front of her turning out to be much more help than she originally anticipated, "Thank you." Kacey said softly, receiving a reassuring smile in return from Brooke.

"So are you going to tell me what this all is really about?" Brooke asked curiously.

Kacey sat back up in the bed and looked down into her lap as she fumbled with her hands, "It's stupid, really." She said, feeling like she made a big deal out of nothing in the first place.

"Do you know how many stupid things I've done for stupid reasons Kacey?" Brooke asked giving the girl an unimpressed look, "I'm sure I've made big deals out of much stupider things than whatever it is that you are about to tell me."

Kacey nodded, feeling a sense of comfort in the other girl's presence now, "It's just hard being the middle child sometimes." She admitted, not sure if Brooke would even understand, "I mean between Parker and Taylor I tend to get lost in the crowd sometimes or at least it feels that way. And with the whole accident and memory thing with my mom and my parents fighting lately it's just like I'm not even there sometimes."

Brooke nodded, "Yeah Parker mentioned things have been a little hectic at your house lately."

"Yeah to say the least." Kacey scoffed as she laid back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"So what? You thought rebelling would get you a little attention?" Brooke asked disapprovingly.

Kacey shrugged from her position, "Maybe?" She said unsure as to what she was trying to achieve in all of this. She'd been a little lost the last week or so and she couldn't seem to find her way back to her usual self, "That's how Parker gets her attention isn't it?"

Brooke let out a laugh, causing Kacey to lift her head slightly to look at the other girl, waiting for her to respond, "Sorry it's just Parker doesn't want that attention. Negative attention probably isn't all that you think it is. And attention from some boy that you probably don't even care that much about probably isn't as great as you think it'll be either."

Kacey nodded, thinking about what Brooke was saying but not sure what to say back. To her luck Brooke's voice broke through the silence once again, "You know how you feel isn't stupid. I'm not a middle child but I have an older sister who requires a lot more attention than I do. Sometimes you feel left out or like you're not as important. I get it."

"Really?" Kacey asked, the blonde continuing to surprise her.

"Of course. My dad works in the city so he leaves early and usually doesn't get home until dinner time, if that, most days." Brooke started, "Then he volunteers at that church a couple blocks from school when he has the extra time so he's not home much. And with my sister always doing something wrong, she usually gets the attention when he is here. Whether she wants it or not." She said running her hands through her hair and sighing.

"Sometimes it gets to me, sure. But I know that he doesn't mean to push me to the side sometimes, Carly just needs his attention more than I do. He's a good dad and knows that I'm okay and doing what I'm supposed to do. He doesn't mean to but sometimes he forgets that while I'm okay on my own, I need a little attention to." She finished up, "From what I've seen and heard from Parker, you have a pretty good set of parents, I doubt they're intentionally making you feel like this. I'm sure if you just mentioned how you were feeling they'd make the correction."

"Easier said than done." Kacey said, "I'm usually the one who's good at letting everyone know how I feel but for some reason this time it's not so easy."

"That's probably because you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Which explains all you're pent up frustration and anger." Brooke stated simply.

Kacey eyes her suspiciously, "I thought you weren't supposed to be good at this kind of thing. You know, talking and advice or whatever this is."

"I have my moments." Brooke responded proudly, "So you still want to rebel?" She asked, earning an intrigued look from Kacey, "We can get you in a little trouble with something a little less drastic than what you originally were going for. Perhaps a piercing? Maybe a tattoo?" Brooke suggested mischievously.

"That's more of the bad advice I was looking for." Kacey said, jumping up from the bed excitedly.

"Wait." Brooke said before Kacey could make her way out of the room, "Come here real quick before we leave."

Kacey walked over to the side of the bed closest to Brooke and peaked at the computer screen, her eyes immediately widening causing Brooke to laugh hardily, "Oh my God. Why is that on your screen?!"

"What it's natural, would you please uncover your eyes." Brooke said, pulling on Kacey's wrist, prying her hand away from her eyes easily, "They're just illustrations, calm down. It's not like you haven't seen one."

"Not from that angle I haven't." Kacey countered.

Brooke giggled again, "Here, just remember this page okay?" She said, tilting the screen so Kacey could see it better, "You know since your curious about sex, I just thought maybe it'd be better if you learned a little about yourself more. You know…experiment."

Kacey looked at Brooke warily before looking back down at the screen, "Did you do this before you had sex?"

Brooke scoffed, "No I definitely learned as I went." She admitted honestly, "But I'm in a little of a dry spot at the moment with your sister being pissed at me and what not so all I got is myself at the moment." She admitted bitterly.

"Eww!" Kacey said, lightly hitting Brooke on the arm, "Please do not talk about you and my sister having sex."

Brooke laughed again. She was actually enjoying Kacey's company much more than she had expected to. She apparently had a soft spot for the McCullers family. "Sorry." She said.

"So you do that?" Kacey asked uncomfortably.

"Sometimes, yeah." Brooke said, "Number four," She said gesturing back to the screen she had pulled up on her computer, "game changer." She stated completely truthfully.

Kacey laughed, appreciating the girl making light out of the somewhat uncomfortable topic, "Are there that many ways to masturbate?"

"You'd be surprised." Brooke said giving Kacey a look, remembering her own surprise when she found the site that was filled with different techniques and tricks.

Kacey nodded, now genuinely intrigued on what was on the page Brooke had pulled up on her computer but deciding to leave it at that and not ask any further questions. She was thankful when Brooke closed her laptop and set it back down in the corner on the floor, "So it got better then?"

"What do you mean?" Brooke asked as she turned around, not sure what Kacey meant.

Kacey shrugged as her and the blonde walked out of her bedroom, "I mean the next time. After Derek. Was it better?"

Brooke sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't ask about that." She admitted, causing Kacey to frown slightly in confusion, "Of course it was better the next time. Because I waited until I was actually ready and I actually found someone that I knew and liked." Brooke explained, biting her lip not really wanting to admit what she was about to, but feeling like it was appropriate to help Kacey, "Your sister is the only other person I've been with."

"What? Really?" Kacey asked, completely surprised by the new information as they made their way outside.

Kacey had heard rumors about Brooke being easy around school. Of course she didn't pay much mind to them until she found out her sister was involved with her but due to Brooke's somewhat bad reputation Kacey had always just assumed they were true.

Brooke nodded, "Ah I see you've heard the rumors." She said letting out a huff of disbelief as she climbed into her car, "You know kid, you shouldn't believe everything you hear. Especially in a high school hallway. Trevor started those rumors after I burst his ego by not sleeping with him. And because I hang out with a lot of boys, I don't know I guess people just assume it's true." She guessed, shrugging it off, "It's not really a big deal. I do bounce around from boy to boy. I mean it's not like I'm looking for a relationship because- well you know, I'm gay. Kiss a boy here and there to keep up appearances and suddenly you're the school slut or whatever. I swear boys' egos are so weak." She said rolling her eyes.

Kacey nodded, dropping the subject. She felt guilty enough for ever believing the rumors in the first place and she didn't want to upset the girl if it was a touchy subject. But she was itching to ask one more thing as Brooke pulled away from the curb of her house, "If you don't care what people think about you then why are you so worried about people finding out you're gay?"

 _To be continued…_

 _(I know it ends a little abruptly but that's where it made sense to split this chapter and what's going to be the next so just go with it)._


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: First off I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season whatever it is you may celebrate! Hope you all find this time of year to be filled with more joy than stress. And since the next chapter won't be posted until next year I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone who leaves a review whether it's a quick one word thing or paragraphs of comments, I deeply appreciate them all and love getting the chance to talk to some of you. I also wanted to thank those who have simply read, followed, or favorited the story throughout this year. As someone who enjoys writing as an outlet and uses it as a chance to engage with other people in the world it really means a lot to me that you take your time to be a part of it :)**

 **Okay okay enough of the sap. Quick notes about the fic...this chapter doesn't have a lot of Paily in it but I'll make it up in the next chapter. Also I didn't do any kind of proof reading so sorry for any mistakes throughout the chapter. Other than that here it is, hope you enjoy it :)**

Brooke sighed, "It's complicated." She said, hoping to leave it at that.

Kacey saw the hesitation that Brooke had, but she was curious and before she knew it words were slipping out of her mouth pushing for an answer, "Come on. I won't tell anyone."

Brooke glanced over at Kacey to be met with pleading eyes. She rolled her eyes at the doe like look on the younger girl's face and gave in, "My dad's not really into that kind of thing." She admitted casually, as if it didn't matter to her.

"Not into that kind of thing?" Kacey asked, "You mean he's homophobic?" Kacey questioned unintentionally, cringing when she saw Brooke grit her teeth as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat as soon as the word left her mouth.

"He's not homophobic." Brooke protested firmly.

Kacey curled into herself a little, feeling like she overstepped, "Right. Sorry."

Brooke relaxed a little after a moment, "He's a good guy." She defender her father, "He loves me." She continued, Kacey nodding along quietly, "He'd love me if I told him."

Kacey looked over at the girl and suddenly felt sorry for the girl. She didn't see the confident girl that she had always seen in Brooke. A girl that people moved out of the way for in the hallways at school. A girl who strutted around like the world worked on her terms. In her place was a girl who suddenly looked small, her eyebrows knitted together in worry as she rambled on.

"He just…he doesn't exactly agree with it." The blonde admitted with a shrug.

Kacey nodded, not sure what to say to that. They sat in silence for a while, the air around them becoming tense. Brooke sighing heavily next to her drew Kacey's attention back to the older girl, "It's not that big of a deal." She dismissed the subject, hoping to return to the lighter mood the two had settled upon earlier in the night.

"Isn't it though?" Kacey pressed to Brooke's surprise, "So you're just supposed to push your feelings aside to what? Make him comfortable?" Kacey asked before sadly adding, "What about you?"

Brooke shook her head, "Look we grew up in different families." Brooke tried to explain, "My family isn't exactly as put together and understanding as yours." She admitted a little more harshly than intended, "My mom died when I was a kid, he's all I have besides my sister."

Kacey nodded at the vulnerable admittance that she got out of the girl. She had already known that Brooke's mom had died years ago. They lived in a small town, big things like that didn't go missed by anyone, "I'm sorry for pushing it." Kacey said timidly.

"Don't be." Brooke sighed out, "As you could guess it's a touchy subject." The blonde said with a humorless laugh, "But you're right," She said, surprising Kacey, "It's not something I can hide forever. I mean I guess I could if I really wanted to but it'd drive me insane at some point."

Kacey smiled, "I think it already is."

Brooke let out a real laugh this time as she nodded, "Yeah you're probably right about that too. I'm just…I'm not ready yet."

Kacey nodded and gave the blonde an understanding smile when their eyes met. And that's all it took. The tension between them quickly evaporating as the car slowed and Brooke pulled up to a house. Kacey eyed it suspiciously as Brooke got out of the car but ignored her hesitance and followed Brooke up the driveway.

Kacey stumbled over her steps slightly when as she followed Brooke, "whose house is this?" She asked nervously.

Brooke looked over at her and giggled, "Relax Kacey, my friend lives here." Kacey nodded visibly relaxing at that bit of information as Brooke knocked on the door, "So what are we going for?" Brooke asked as she waited for someone to answer, "Tattoo or piercing?"

"Umm piercing?" Kacey more so asked.

"Good choice." Brooke said as she gripped the doorknob and opened the door herself after someone called out from inside to come in, "Less chance your moms will kill you." She joked, "Piercings come out. Tattoos? Well you just have to live with those choices."

Kacey cautiously entered the house, Brooke closing the door behind them. There were a few kids scattered around the living room that she recognized from school, "Wait one of them is going to do it?" Kacey asked gesturing to the teenagers lounging around.

Brooke shrugged, "This way it's free." She said absentmindedly as she greeted some of the kids.

"Is that safe?"

"Don't worry, she's certified." Brooke threw over her shoulder as she walked upstairs, Kacey awkwardly following her, "Hey." Brooke said as she slipped into a bedroom with s girl who looked their age in it.

She had jet black hair, the ends of it colored in a clearly fading out purple. And Kacey's eyes immediately caught the multiple piercings running down the curve of her ear. She definitely looked like the person to call if you needed a piercing or tattoo on short notice in the middle of the night but Kacey wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse about the situation.

"Oh hey, I'm almost ready for you." The black haired girl greeted as she gestured for the two of them to come further into the room, "Kacey McCullers." The girl said with wide, excited eyes, "I didn't peg you for the type."

"The type?" Kacey asked, her eyes flittering around the room nervously, "Type for what?"

The girl simply laughed, "The type to be getting yourself into trouble with Brooke by your side." She said with a smirk.

Kacey let out a nervous laugh, not being able to shake the flipping in her stomach, "Oh uh yeah I guess not." She managed to stumble the words out, "One of those kind of phases I suppose.

The girl nodded seeming to understand before leaving the room. "Ready?" Brooke asked sensing Kacey's hesitance.

"She's not really certified is she?" Kacey asked, knowingly as she watched the girl in question walk down the hall and disappear into another room.

Brooke scoffed, "No of course not but I thought it'd make you feel better." The blonde grabbed Kacey by the shoulders and led her to a chair in front of a desk, pushing her down into it, "I promise you'll be fine." Brooke said quietly as the other girl came back into the room and Kacey wasn't sure why but she believed Brooke. She'd be fine. She just needed to relax.

So Kacey took a deep breath and relaxed as Brooke's friend instructed. Now Kacey wouldn't say she was scared of needles but she suddenly felt nauseous when one came into view. She also doesn't recall choosing where she wanted a piercing however before she knew it the needle was penetrating the skin of her nose and while the pain was more than she thought it would be she kind of liked the rush of it all.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

Parker pulled up to McKenna's house and jumped out of the truck, practically running to the front door and knocking. She calmed her breathing and pushed down her nerves, lightly straightening out her shirts with her hands as she waited for someone to answer the door. It didn't take long before the door swung open and McKenna was standing in front of her. Parker lifted her head up slowly, letting her eyes roam over the girl who was wearing a navy blue dress that had Parker feeling like her knees were going to give out.

"Wow," Parker said as her eyes met McKenna's, "Y-you look really great."

McKenna smiled sweetly at Parker, "Thanks, you look good too."

Parker looked down at her black, ripped up skinny jeans and the loose white shirt she settled on and smiled. She didn't feel like she dressed up to par with McKenna but she felt comfortable and she was glad that the other girl seemed to approve, "Thanks."

Parker led McKenna to the passenger door of the truck and opened the door for her, letting McKenna climb in before she went over and got in herself. "You know you don't have to do all that." McKenna said as Parker pulled away from the curb.

"What?" Parker asked unsure what she meant.

"Open doors and all that." McKenna said with a small laugh. She could tell Parker was nervous and she didn't want Parker to freak out over a bunch of small stuff that she felt she had to do to please her.

Parker glanced over at her briefly before returning her eyes to the road, "What? Come on that's the best part." She said, "My dating experience is pretty much non-existent so everything I'm throwing at you is most likely coming from cheesy rom-com movies that don't actually happen in real life." Parker said with a shrug, "You're just going to have to accept it because it's all I got." She said teasingly.

"Fair enough." McKenna agreed with a laugh, "So where are we going?"

"Okay get ready for this," Parker said, pausing dramatically before excitedly stating, "Bowling."

"Bowling?" McKenna questioned, "I never imagined you as a bowler." She admitted raising an eyebrow at Parker.

"Well be prepared then because not only am I a freakishly good bowler but I can also rock a pair of bowling shoes like no one's business." Parker stated confidently causing McKenna to giggle again.

"Can't wait to see it." McKenna said truthfully as Parker pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley and parking before they slipped out of the car.

Parker waited by the front of the truck for McKenna and couldn't help the massive smile that planted itself on her face when McKenna intertwined their fingers without thinking about it, falling into strides next to each other as they walked to the door.

"Is this okay?" McKenna asked shyly when she caught Parker staring at their intertwined fingers.

Parker quickly snapped her gaze up to meet McKenna's worried eyes, "What? Yeah. Sorry," She said sheepishly, "It's just, I guess I'm not used to it, that's all."

McKenna smiled at her reassuringly and squeezed Parker's hand a little harder as they walked into the bowling alley. It wasn't packed but there were quite a few people there and Parker felt a sense of pride as she walked through the place holding McKenna's hand. This is what she had wanted. Hardly even anyone looked at them but Parker finally felt like she didn't have to hide anything about herself and a sense of freeness fell over her as she relaxed.

The two girls got their shoes and a lane before finding a few bowling balls to play with. McKenna settled into a seat at their lane, opting to let Parker go first. Parker stood up and grabbed her ball before McKenna's voice stopped her and she turned to look back at her date.

"Okay I thought you were kidding but you actually look really good in bowling shoes." McKenna said, genuinely surprised.

"I told you." Parker said smugly as she modeled the shoes causing McKenna to shake her head and let out the laugh Parker had been going for, "Now be ready to be impressed." Parker said turning back to the lane and lining up to bowl.

Parker took her two turns, easily getting a spare. She turned around and walked over to McKenna, dropping down in the seat next to her with a proud smile, "Oddly good bowler." She said with a shrug, "Your turn." She encouraged, gesturing for McKenna to try it.

McKenna stood up and straightened out her dress before grabbing a ball and lining up. Parker smiled on as she watched McKenna but quirked an eyebrow when McKenna didn't stick her fingers in the holes on the ball but as bad as Parker anted to correct her she decided against saying anything. Her smile quickly faded though when McKenna threw the ball, successfully putting spin on it. Parker's jaw slacked when the ball curved and struck the pins perfectly knocking all of them down with force.

McKenna turned around grinning from ear to ear, clearly amused by the shock on Parker's face. McKenna walked over and stood directly in front of Parker, who looked up at her with surprised eyes. McKenna simply shrugged, "I'm an oddly good bowler too." She admitted, finding confidence as she took her seat next to Parker.

Parker looked back over at the lane, not feeling very confident anymore, "Your turn." McKenna said teasingly as she lightly patted Parker's leg.

Parker nodded and grabbed her ball, taking a deep breath and putting her game face back on. The only reason she came here in the first place was to impress McKenna. No way was she going to lose this game. She lined up and threw the ball and smiled brightly when she got a strike. Turning around and putting on a small show of celebrative fist pumps and dance moves. It was on.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

"Well how does it feel?" Brooke asked as they slipped back into her car.

Kacey pulled down the mirror above the passenger seat as soon as she climbed in and examined her new nose piercing, "A little sore," She admitted, but a massive smile made its way onto her face anyways, "But I love it. It's awesome!"

"Between you and me? It makes you look like really hot." Brooke said sincerely with a laugh, Kacey immediately joining her, "Do not EVER tell your sister I said that to you."

"Your secret is safe with me." Kacey got out between giggles. The car ride was filled with light hearted jokes and before they knew it they were pulling up to the McCullers residence, "Thanks for hanging out with me tonight." Kacey said genuinely as Brooke parked her car next to the curb in front of Kacey's house.

Brooke smiled over at her as she watched Kacey get out of the car, "No problem. I actually had a lot of fun." She said, "And it was nice to be able to get some things off my chest, so thank you."

Kacey smile and nodded, leaning down so she could see Brooke in the car, "Well how annoyed is Parker going to be when she finds out we actually had a genuinely good time together?" She asked.

"So annoyed." Brooke laughed rolling her eyes, "I wonder how her dates going?" She asked aloud before she could stop herself.

Kacey offered her a sad smile knowing that it had been on the other girl's mind all night, "Try not to think about it too much." She said before saying her final goodbye and making her way inside the house.

Brooke looked at the clock on the dash and figured it wouldn't be too long before Parker got home, so she turned the car off and the radio up, leaning back in her seat doing her best to keep her mind off of Parker's date as she waited for her.

Kacey walked into the house, kicking her shoes off by the door before making her way to the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks though when she saw the refrigerator door open. She didn't have much time to react before Paige closed the fridge and emerged from behind the door, throwing Kacey a smile but it instantly dropping from her face when she saw the worried look on Kacey's face and it didn't take long for her eyes to drift down to the new piercing on her daughter's nose.

"Hey mom." Kacey greeted nervously.

Paige pulled her lips in tightly as she nodded her head slowly, weighing her options. Her and Kacey stared at each other for a moment in silence before Paige simply shook her head, "You know what I don't even want to know."

"Really, that's it?" Kacey asked, kind of surprised.

Paige nodded as she walked passed Kacey, stopping at the end of the stairs and turning back around to look at her, "I just came down to get a water." Paige stated before moving her finger between her and her daughter, "Me and you. We never saw each other. Let your mother deal with it later."

Kacey let out a soft chuckle as Paige started walking upstairs, "It looks pretty cool though right?" She hollered towards Paige, "Better choice than the tattoo." She added teasingly when she didn't get a response.

That stopped Paige who ran a hand over her face in distress, letting out a calming breath before continuing up to her room, leaving Kacey in the kitchen in a fit of quiet giggles. She knew Paige wouldn't mind the piercing as much. The one she had to worry about was Emily.

Paige walked into her room and dropped down on her side of the bed, "Are the kids home?" Emily asked turning her head to look up at Paige who simply shook her head.

"Nope."

Emily looked at her wife curiously, "I thought I heard you talking to someone?"

Paige simply shook her head again, "Must've miss heard." She responded, taking a sip of her water.

Emily raised an eyebrow at her wife knowing that something was up. She waited a second before sitting up and swinging her feet over the side of the bed and onto the floor, only stopping when Paige grabbed her wrist, "What?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Trust me, let it wait until morning." Paige said.

"Paige, what's going on?" Emily asked, completely confused over her wife's weird behavior.

"Let her have her night of teenage rebellion." Paige stated calmly, running her thumb soothingly over where she still held Emily's wrist.

"Teenage rebellion?" Emily asked warily. She didn't like the sound of that.

Paige nodded as she pulled Emily back onto the bed, "But hey it could've been worse," the brunette said with a shrug, "She could've went with the tattoo instead."

"What?!" Emily exclaimed, practically jumping out of bed to charge downstairs but not being able to thanks to the grip that Paige still had on her.

Paige let out a hardy laugh, not surprised by Emily's reaction at all but still amused, "Emily relax." Paige tried, "She's fine."

Emily let her glance wander to their bedroom door as she bit her lip in thought. She wanted to go downstairs so bad. She knew it would drive her crazy to not know what kind of 'teenage rebellion' she was going to have to deal with in the morning but she settled back down into bed next to Paige anyways with a huff, "Fine."

Paige chuckled at the small pout forming on Emily's face, "What's the big deal anyway?" Paige asked, gaining Emily's attention easily, "I mean you have a tattoo." She reminded Emily playfully.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Yes. But the kids don't know that." She stated, "And they don't need to."

Paige's lips tilted up in a smile, "If I remember correctly you weren't much older than Kacey when you got yours."

"Yeah well not my best moment." Emily huffed out before adding, "And thank god it was small and in a place it was easy to hide or else my mom would've killed me." She said, believing every bit of it, "Much like I would kill the kids if they came home with one."

Paige's eyes widened slightly in amusement, "Oh my god Em. You've officially turned into your mother."

Emily shook her head, instantly putting a finger up in the air stopping Paige, "Do not say that. I am not my mother." Paige gave her a 'sorry, not buying it' look and Emily's face slumped as comparisons between her mom then and herself now flashed through her mind, "Oh my god, I've turned into my mother."

Paige dropped her torso back onto the bed as she fell into a fit of laughter, Emily smacking her in protest but not being able to contain the small laughs that emerged from the back of her own throat at the realization, "When did this happen?" Emily asked completely dumbfounded.

"Is it so bad?" Paige asked through the ends of her laughter, "Your mother was a great one for the most part." Emily nodded silently in agreement before Paige continued, "Maybe you're not exactly your mother. I mean your mom doesn't have a tattoo."

Emily giggled, "Yeah that we know of." She joked.

"Please," Paige scoffed, "your mom would never."

"No she definitely wouldn't." Emily agreed as she shook her head.

"I like it." Paige said with a smirk.

"Like what?" Emily asked absentmindedly, not knowing what Paige was referring to.

"Your tattoo." Paige said softly, hooking her finger into the waistband of Emily's pajama shorts and tugging slightly.

Emily swatted Paige's hand away, "Paige!" She scolded with a laugh.

"What? I wanna see it." Paige said innocently, a mischievous smile on her face as she looked up at Emily.

"You've seen it a million times." Emily said, this time though letting her wife's hands settle at her waist without protest.

"Lucky me." Paige said excitedly, this time successfully tugging Emily's shorts down a little.

"What no foreplay?" Emily teased.

Paige stopped her actions and looked up at Emily again, "What? Was that whole conversation about your tattoo not foreplay?" She asked jokingly.

"We were talking about my mother!" Emily exclaimed unamused.

Paige shrugged, "Your mom's kind of hot." She mumbled.

"Eww, why would you say that with your hand down my pants?" Emily stated in disbelief, smacking her wife on the back of the head lightly, "What's wrong with you?"

Paige at this point was rolled onto her back laughing hysterically, "I'm sorry I couldn't resist." She said, trying to regain control of herself, "It felt weird though, I'll admit that. Don't get me wrong, I love your mother but I don't think of her in that way."

"Good." Emily stated with a short laugh of her own, "Don't ever start."

"Yes ma'am." Paige said firmly, rolling back on top of Emily only to have Emily immediately roll her back off and onto her own side of the bed.

"Nope. Lost your chance McCullers." Emily said, reaching for the remote and mindlessly started to flip through the channels.

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

"Well that was unexpected." Parker grumbled out in defeat as McKenna sat back down next to her. They had bowled two games and while Parker had won one of them, she was pretty sure McKenna had let her win it out of pity. It wasn't that she was mad she lost, she just didn't particularly like to lose no matter what game or situation she was in.

McKenna laughed at the clear pout on Parker's face, "Sorry to crush the confidence you had in your bowling skills." McKenna said sincerely with a tinge of teasing to her voice, knowing very well that Parker was competitive.

"Don't be." Parker said quickly, "Watching a girl bowl a near perfect game in a mini dress is strangely arousing."

McKenna's eyes widened the slightest bit, "Parker!" She exclaimed as she smacked Parker on the arm lightly, letting her eyes dart around them to see if anyone heard what the brunette had said.

"I know it took me by surprise to." Parker teased. She watched as McKenna shook her head and giggled, not being able to stop the smile that spread across her face.

Parker noticed their close proximity and took a moment to glance around them. When she noticed that no one was paying any mind to them she leaned in a kissed McKenna lightly. She was relieved when McKenna's lips pushed back against her own but it didn't last very long. The kiss was short and much to Parker's disappointment completely PG.

Parker opened her eyes to find McKenna's face still directly in front of hers, her eyes involuntarily dropping back down to McKenna's lips as she went to lean in again but McKenna's hand gently met Parker's shoulder, not allowing her to connect their lips, "I'm not going to make out with you in the middle of a bowling alley." McKenna said through a giggle.

"Why not?" Parker asked although she knew the answer

"Because it's only our first date an-"

"And I have to earn it." Parker finished flatly, recalling the statement from the last time she tried to get more than a brief kiss out of McKenna.

McKenna nodded, a pleased smile on her face, "Exactly." She said as she stood up, offering Parker her hand to help pull her up out of her chair, "Come on, your curfew may be 11 but mine's 10 so you have to get me home."

Parker allowed McKenna to pull her up from her seat and their fingers intertwined without either of them thinking about it. Parker smiled at the girl next to her as they walked towards the exit of the bowling alley, "Hey aren't those your friends? The ones in that math club thing you do?" Parker asked as she spotted a group of familiar faces sitting at a table off to the side.

McKenna turned her head to look where Parker was gesturing to, but quickly turned it back to Parker, "Umm no I don't think so." She said, dropping Parker's hand suddenly.

Parker gave the girl next to her a weird look but shrugged the odd action off as she shoved her hands in her pockets and glanced over towards the kids in question, "No I'm pretty sure that's them. That kid tutored me a few times." Parker said, confused as to what was going on.

McKenna looked over at the group again quickly before grabbing Parker's arm and continuing to lead her out of the bowling alley and towards the truck in the parking lot, "Okay that was weird right?" Parker asked as she climbed into the truck, McKenna getting in simultaneously on the opposite side of her, "What was that about?"

McKenna sighed as Parker started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot, "It was nothing."

"Umm no that was definitely something." Parker stated. She didn't know what was going on and she didn't really want to push but she wanted to make sure McKenna was okay, "What are you not friends with them anymore or something?" She asked, "You didn't get kicked out of math club did you?" Parker joked with a raised eyebrow, trying to lighten the suddenly tense mood.

"No, everything with them is fine." McKenna answered shortly.

"Did they not invite you out tonight?" Parker asked.

McKenna shook her head, "No they did. I just told them that I couldn't because I already had plans. I didn't know they were coming to the bowling alley though." She admitted.

Parker nodded, "I mean honestly I didn't even know those kids knew how to have fun. It is a week night after all, I thought they'd have their noses buried in some book."

McKenna's head snapped up at Parker's comment, "Don't make fun of them."

Parker's eyes widened a little bit in surprise, putting her hands up in defense as she stopped at a red light and looked over at McKenna, "I wasn't making fun of them."

"Just because they're smart doesn't mean they do nothing but study." McKenna defended, "I'm part of that group and you didn't think twice about me coming out and having fun." She added.

Parker didn't really know why McKenna was so touchy over the subject but she was suddenly really uncomfortable. Parker wasn't a fan of confrontation and when face with it she usually tried to back her way out of it with a joke but that didn't seem like the best idea at the moment. "I didn't mean anything by it." She decided on after a moment.

"It's fine." McKenna said calmly, "I just don't like when people make fun of them for something they enjoy doing."

Parker's eyebrows furrowed, "I wasn't making fun of them." She repeated, "And even if I was, what does it matter. You really don't think those kids make fun of me?"

McKenna looked over at Parker, whose eyes were focused on the road, but didn't say anything in response. Instead she just waited for Parker to continue, "Like I said one of the kids tutored me and obviously compared to them I'm about as smart as a rock." Parker ranted, "Their favorite is the 'I spend too much time underwater' joke, you know they have concluded that I'm not getting enough oxygen to my brain." Parker huffed out.

By this time Parker was pulling up to McKenna's house, parking her truck along the curb. She turned to face the girl next to her whose eyes were glued to her lap now and it didn't take very long for the realization to dawn on Parker, "They didn't know you were out with me did they?"

McKenna lifted her head up and shook her head at Parker who let out a humorless laugh at the answer, "Parker, I-"

Parker cut McKenna off, not interested in some sort of pity apology, "If you were embarrassed to go out on a date with me you could've just said no."

"It's not that Parker. You know I really like you." McKenna started, "They just…they don't really like you, that's all."

"Yeah well I don't particularly like them either, but I know you hang out with them." Parker countered.

McKenna sighed, regretting the hole she dug for herself, "I'm sorry Parker. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It was stupid to just not tell them I was out with you. If they don't like it then that's their problem."

Parker could easily tell the girl was genuinely apologetic so she just shrugged it off, not pushing the matter any further, "It's fine, whatever."

"It's hard to fit in with both sides Parker. I'm just trying to please everyone. It's nothing personal." McKenna continued to try to explain.

"Look I've been someone's secret before and I'm not interested in that. So I had a great time but I just don't think we fit in each other's worlds." Parker admitted, avoiding looking at McKenna.

McKenna's face dropped at the words, "What do you mean?"

Parker sighed at the sad tone of McKenna's voice, "I just don't think it would work out. You're great. Perfect even." Parker stated truthfully, "But I don't think I'm what you're looking for newbie. I think we're better off just being friends."

McKenna nodded sadly from the passenger seat, "Oh, okay then." She said, waiting a moment in the silence before opening the door, "I guess I'll see you at practice tomorrow?" McKenna asked as she climbed out of the truck.

Parker nodded, "Sure thing newbie." The brunette said, throwing the best smile she could muster at the moment towards McKenna, who nodded, "Goodnight."

"'Night." The girl said, making her way to her front door.

Parker waited until McKenna got inside before she started the drive back to her house. She felt a little bit like an idiot at this point and she wasn't feeling too great after that blow to her ego. The drive home was quick and she was surprised to see Brooke's car sitting in front of her house. Parker pulled the truck right up behind Brooke's car along the curb and parked it before hopping out and walking over to Brooke's window, tapping on it lightly to get the blondes attention.

Brooke startled a little but rolled the window down when she saw it was Parker, "Hey."

Parker looked up at her house before returning her gaze to look at Brooke curiously, "You know this is borderline stalking right?"

"Ha. Ha." Brooke returned dryly with a roll of her eyes, "I dropped your sister off a little bit ago. Thought I'd wait to see how your date went."

Parker sighed, standing up straight and running her fingers through her hair in distress before walking back towards the truck. Brooke sighed, turning the radio off and getting out of her car, following Parker without much thought. She walked over to Parker who had pulled down the tailgate of the truck and was hopping onto it, silently inviting Brooke to join her. Brooke climbed up onto the back of the truck, legs hanging loosely over the edge next to Parker's.

"It went really good." Parker said, breaking the silence and gaining Brooke's attention.

Brooke tried to look unaffected by the admittance but Parker saw the flash of disappointment settle on the blondes face for a short moment before she gave Parker the fakest smile she thinks she's ever seen, "That's good." She forced out.

Parker huffed out a brief laugh, "Don't worry, we didn't really fit as good as I originally thought we would."

"No?" Brooke asked. The tinge of hopefulness not going missed by Parker.

Parker shook her head as she looked away from Brooke and out to the street, "The date went great but we just aren't right for each other." Parker let out a small laugh as she dropped her head, "Man I feel so cheesy right now."

Brooke nudged Parker's shoulder with her own, "You're always cheesy McCullers."

Parker lifted her head to look at Brooke, "Am not!"

Brooke gave Parker a look before rolling her eyes, "You're a big softie McCullers. Admit it."

"Never." Parker said, causing Brooke to shake her head. They sat in silence for a while before Parker spoke softly, "I've missed you."

"Could've fooled me." Brooke said a little harsher than she intended, "You've been ignoring me."

"Doesn't mean I haven't missed you." Parker countered without missing a beat.

Brooke sighed, "Well if you couldn't tell. I've missed you too." She admitted casually, swinging her foot lightly to tap Parker's.

Parker smiled, the idea of Brooke missing her making her stomach flip, "I like that you missed me." She admitted, "I wasn't sure if you were going too."

"Parker, I literally agreed to help your sister just so I could have an excuse to be around you again." Brooke informed her.

Parker giggled next to her, "Is that what you were doing with Kacey?" Parker asked, receiving a nod from Brooke, "When I saw you show up for her, I kind of went a little crazy."

"Good then it served its purpose." Brooke said pleased.

Parker shook her head, "I knew there was no way you and Kacey together could mean anything good."

"We actually had a lot of fun." Brooke said shrugging, "I helped her with some things and she helped me deal with some things too." Brooke admitted sheepishly.

"I'm still your favorite McCullers though right?" Parker asked playfully.

Brooke scrunched her face up in thought, "Hmm I don't know, she definitely gave you a run for your money."

Parker scoffed, "Yeah but I have an advantage."

"Oh yeah?" Brooke asked, "And what would your advantage be?"

"I can do that thing you like with my tongue." Parker said smugly, throwing a wink at the blonde for good measure.

Brooke swallowed hard, inappropriate thoughts slipping into her head. But she wasn't going to give Parker the upper hand so she shook the thoughts away quickly, "Who says Kacey can't do it to?"

Parker's smug face instantly dropped, jaw slaked in shock, "T-that's a joke right?"

Brooke let out a genuinely hardy laugh, "Yes Parker." Brooke said regaining her composure, "You know I would never go after your little sister."

Parker nodded knowingly. They sat in a comfortable silence. Subconsciously scooting closer together on the tailgate as they stared down the street in thought. Parker's attention was caught though when Brooke suddenly jumped off the back of the truck, "Where are you going?" Parker asked.

"Hold on I forgot, I brought you something." Brooke said. Parker watched Brooke jog to her car and reach in before returning to her side, "You left this at my house." She said tossing the object onto the tailgate, "I figured it would cheer you up tonight if the date didn't go so well." She explained.

Parker couldn't hold back the massive smile that spread across her face as her eyes scanned the DVD in her hand, "I can't believe I like someone who doesn't like Star Wars." She said in disbelief, holding the DVD in her hand up and showing Brooke the cover as if she had never seen it.

"You're really going to have to let the Star Wars thing go McCullers." Brooke stated.

"It's a classic." Parker deadpanned.

"I just don't get it and frankly I'm not all that interested." Brooke said shrugging, "I've seen them all though. Thanks to you." She mumbled.

Parker laughed, "Maybe but you never pay attention."

"I do to!" Brooke argued.

Parker looked down at the girl who was still standing in front of her, "You don't even know that Anakin and Darth Vader are the same person." Parker let out as if it almost pained her to think about as she stared at Brooke with a bewildered expression.

"Yes I do!" Brooke exclaimed but not getting anything else in as Parker cut her off.

"Every time we've watched it you always ask way too many questions about things I think you already know the answer to. You just do it to drive me crazy."

"Can't be proven." Brooke interrupted.

"And you always call lightsabers swords." Parker said clearly offended.

"They basically are." Brooke said with a shrug.

"Two completely different things." Parker interjected.

Brooke rolled her eyes, before stepping closer to Parker. She resting her hands on Parker's thighs as she squeezed herself between Parker's legs, "I watch them with you though don't I?" Brooke asked, getting a small smile and a nod from Parker, "Every time you lose a race in the pool."

"Which isn't often." Parker slipped in.

Brooke laughed but nodded, "And I watched like three of them that one time you got sick." She pointed out.

Parker nodded, "Yeah you did." She said and just like that her stomach was flipping inside her again, "No matter how much you hate them. You always watch them."

"It's you guilty pleasure." Brooke said with a shrug, "It always makes you feel better when you're down." She stated while lifting a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Parker's ear, letting her hand linger for a little longer than was necessary.

Parker as usual knew she shouldn't have any non-platonic interaction with Brooke but she couldn't help it, the girl was her weakness. She slipped a hand behind Brooke's neck and leaned down without much thought, connecting their lips. Brooke reciprocated the kiss with no complaints, only scooting herself closer to Parker. Brooke put her hands on Parker's hips and squeezed gently, pulling on them as she took a small step back and successfully pulling Parker off the tailgate. When Parker's feet hit the ground she turned them around, pushing Brooke against the truck softly. Brooke groaned into her mouth, pulling away and adjusting the angel of the kiss in the process.

"People could see us." Parke managed to get out in-between kisses.

Brooke only tightened her grip on Parker, not letting her pull away, "I don't car right now." She mumbled as she tried to catch her breath a little.

"I have to get inside or I'm going to miss curfew." Parker said as she rested her forehead against Brookes.

Brooke nodded in understanding and let her hands drop away from Parker and down to her own sides. Parker planted a light kiss against Brooke's cheek before pulling away and stepping around Brooke to close the tailgate, "Text me when you get home okay?" Parker said as she walked Brooke back to her car.

"I will." She said, climbing in and shutting the door, "You better text me back." She said pointedly though the open window.

Parker smiled down at the girl, "I promise I will." She said pausing for a moment to think before speaking again, "I'm done ignoring you. There's no point."

"Good." The blonde said with a genuine smile before saying her last goodbyes and driving off.

Parker watched the car disappear around the corner before dropping her head back and sighing heavily. She wasn't expecting the night to go anything like it had but part of her was happy it ended where it did. As she walked into the house she couldn't help the small grin planted on her face.

"Have fun?"

The voice startled the grin off of Parker's face but when she looked up to find Emily the dopey smile returned, "Yeah. I did."

Emily smiled at her, "Good, I'm glad."

"What are you doing up?" Parker asked as she made her way over to Emily.

"I never heard you come back and your mom fell asleep," She said gesturing upstairs, "so I thought I'd wait up for you and see how your date went."

Parker nodded, joining Emily on the couch, "Hey mama?"

"Yeah honey?"

"How'd you know you were in love with mom?" Parker asked, looking up at Emily sheepishly.

Emily's eyes widened in surprise a little, "Well it definitely wasn't after the first date." She stated causing Parker to laugh.

"Don't worry I'm not in love with McKenna." Parker reassured Emily, "I was just thinking about it, you know? Like how do you tell when you're in love?"

Emily smiled down at the girl next to her before diving into a story that she was sure Parker had probably already heard countless times before. They sat there for much longer than they should've on a school night but Emily couldn't help herself. She loved when her kids came to her. She didn't care what for. So she sat with her oldest daughter and told her about the moment she knew she was in love with Paige.

When it was all said and done, Emily made her way upstairs and climbed into bed with Paige. And thanks to the fresh thoughts of her teenage self realizing she had fallen for the brunette running around in her head, she truly realized how far the two of them had come since then and she couldn't be more grateful for the way everything turned out.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Okay so I'm definitely a lot busier nowadays than I was when I first started writing this story. However despite my long stretches between updates I don't plan on abandoning this story, I will complete it. I'm actually starting to run out of ideas for this particular story though so I'm starting to try to wrap it up. With that being said, if there is anything you want to see happen in this story before I finish it off, please please let me know and I will try to incorporate it.**

 **Thanks for all of the support, I really appreciate it. If you have any questions, comments, requests feel free to PM me or leave a review, whatever you want. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, I tried to put a lot more Paily in this one :)**

Parker dug her head deeper into her pillow, pulling her comforter up over her head to block out the faint sunlight seeping into the room. She let out an irritated groan, peaking out over her bed sheets when another noise came from the dresser in the corner of the room. Her eyebrows furrowed when she glanced over at Kacey's bed to find it empty. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes when she saw her sister digging through the dresser across the room, "Kace?" She called sleepily towards the figure.

"Hmm?" Kacey hummed, not bothering to turn around.

"What are you doing?" Parker groaned in protest, "And why aren't you doing it quieter?"

"Sorry." Kacey said genuinely as she stopped and turned around to look at Parker, "Do you know where my shorts are? You know the light ones. Really short."

Parker sighed and threw the covers off of her, figuring she wasn't getting anymore sleep, "Bottom drawer." She said as she climbed out of bed, running her hand through her hair.

"Thanks." Kacey said once she pulled the shorts out and slipped them on.

Parker nodded absentmindedly, stopping when she finally looked up at Kacey and got a good look at her, "You got your nose pierced?" Parker asked surprised, "When did that happen?"

"Yeah, do you like it?" Kacey asked excitedly, "It's pretty cool huh?"

"Oh my god, it's really real?" Parker asked touching it lightly with her index finger.

Kacey swatted her hand away instantly, "Yes it's real, don't touch it."

Parker retracted her hand apologetically as she processed Kacey's new addition, "Wait is that what you were doing with Brooke last night?"

"Well it wasn't in our original plans, it was more of a spontaneous kind of a thing." Kacey explained, "I was feeling rebellious."

The brunette let out a small laugh, "That's your big rebel move? A piercing?" Parker asked smirking, "So adorable." She teased.

Kacey rolled her eyes, "Okay so maybe it's not anything super rebellious but for me it's pretty good right. I mean I let a stranger stab me in the face with a needle," Kacey said with equal amounts of enthusiasm and surprise, "Let me have this one."

Parker had to admit she was surprised that Kacey had actually decided to get a piercing and managed to go through with it. The younger girl was right, she wasn't a very spontaneous person so Parker would let her have her little moment. Parker's eyes widened, a small grin forming on her face as something dawned on her, "Wait a minute, does mama know about this?"

Kacey grinned back as she shook her head, "nope."

"You're going to give the poor woman a heart attack." Parker said shaking her head as she laughed, "You know how she is about this kind of stuff."

Kacey grinned mischievously, "That's the point."

Parker's face scrunched up in thought, not sure what Kacey meant, "So you…want to give mom a heart attack?"

"No." Kacey said with a short laugh, "I just…this is me making a statement."

"A statement that says…?" Parker asked rubbing at her face, she wasn't really following Kacey's logic or point.

"Look I just want them to pay attention to me too. I don't really feel like I'm asking for a lot here." Kacey let out, starting to get frustrated, "I figured that lashing out was the only way for me to get it at this point."

Parker was a little taken back by that. She didn't know that Kacey was feeling like their parents weren't focusing on her enough. Kacey always was one to voice how she was feeling so she wasn't really sure how to handle a situation where Kacey had been bottling her emotions up, "Why didn't you just say something to someone?" Parker asked cautiously, "You know they would never leave you out on purpose."

"I know, I just…I shouldn't have to ask them to pay attention to me." Kacey said with a sigh, "I know it's stupid. But lately I just feel like I get lost in the background, you know?"

Parker looked at her sister sympathetically for a moment, nodding in understanding before responding, "Okay then we're going to have to amp up whatever it is you're doing here."

"What?" Kacey asked, looking up at Parker confused.

"We're going to take your rebellion and turn it up to 10." Parker stated blankly, "Because a stranger piercing your face might bug mama but mom doesn't care about that kind of stuff. So first of all what is it exactly that you were going for here?" Parker asked, motioning to Kacey's outfit.

Kacey shrugged, dropping her head to look down at her outfit, "I don't know, I was trying to look a little edgier than I usually do."

Parker sighed, "Is that my shirt?" She asked giving Kacey a look when she nodded, "A cut off band t-shirt doesn't make you edgier Kacey." Parker laughed, "Stereotypically gayer, maybe."

Kacey laughed with her, "I like it." She said with a small pout as Parker silently motioned for her to take it off, which she did as Parker walked over and grabbed something from the back of their closet.

"So since the piercing is mama's focus what is it that will freak mom out? What does she hate more than anything when it comes to us and growing up?" Parker asked already knowing the answer.

"Turning into what she deems a 'sexual being.'" Kacey said grabbing the top that Parker was offering her.

"Bingo." Parker offered immediately with a small chuckle.

"There's no way I can wear this to school Parker." Kacey protested, causing Parker's face to drop slightly as Kacey slipped into a low-cut top that could pretty much pass for a bra as far as Parker was concerned.

"Whoa whoa," Parker said holding her hands up and shaking her head, "I'm all for the rebellion, but I vote against being a sexual being at school." Parker said cringing slightly, "This is just for show. No way mom actually lets you leave the house in that, it's simply to get a rise out of her." Parker explained, "You can throw on that band t-shirt that you seem to like so much when she sends you back up here to change."

Kacey rolled her eyes, "Fine. So how does it look?" She asked as she adjusted the top slightly before dropping her hands to her sides so Parker could see.

Parker eyed her sister for a moment before sighing, "Man you're really asking for it aren't you."

"If this doesn't get their attention I don't know what will." Kacey said sighing heavily causing Parker to throw her another sympathetic look.

Parker walked over to the desk in their room and pulled her leather jacket off the back of the chair, turning back around to hand it to Kacey, "Here. You know just in case mom lets you leave the house, you can cover yourself a little bit."

Kacey slipped it on quickly, surprised that Parker had offered it up to her considering how much the other girl cherished it, "Do I look edgy now?" Kacey asked tugging on the jacket as she threw a smoldering look at Parker and posed.

Parker laughed shaking her head, "Edgy enough to catch mom's eye."

"Perfect." Kacey said satisfied with Parker's help.

Parker quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a top before walking towards the door to head downstairs, "Okay so when you go downstairs remember you want to seem standoff-ish." Parker instructed as she stopped at their bedroom door to look back at Kacey, "Short answers. A little attitude. Like you couldn't care less."

Kacey listened, nodding along, "Got it."

"Alright here goes nothing," Parker said with a small smile on her face, "See you down there in a few minutes for your grand entrance."

 **[][][][][][][][][][][][][]**

Paige groaned when the alarm blared through the room. She pulled the bed sheets tighter around herself and rolled over figuring Emily would turn it off but when the blaring continued on and she didn't feel Emily move to stop it Paige rolled towards Emily's side of the bed, reaching out to hit the snooze button. When the offensive sound stopped screeching through the room Paige noticed that Emily wasn't in bed with her. She glance around the room surprised that there were no signs of Emily. Paige groaned and climbed out of bed, trekking downstairs in search for her wife.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked as she finished descending the stairs, spotting her wife at the kitchen table, Taylor already eating breakfast next to Emily.

"Just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, when I came down to get some water Taylor was up anyway so I figured I'd get an early start on the day." Emily answered.

"So you're waiting for Kacey?" Paige asked knowingly, dropping a kiss on the top of Emily's head as she passed her wife and went over to pour a cup of coffee.

"I just want to make sure she's okay and since my wife wouldn't tell me what was going on, I have no idea whether she is or not." Emily said, I tinge of annoyance to her tone.

"Em she's fine I promise. It's just that I know it stresses you out when they do things like this," Paige said sighing as she leaned back against the counter to face Emily, "You're a little overprotective."

Emily threw a small glare towards Paige, "I am not overprotective."

Paige waited a beat before responding cautiously, "A little."

"You don't think I'm overprotective do you?" Emily asked a clueless Taylor who looked at Paige momentarily before she turned her attention to Emily and shook her head obediently. Emily smiled and pointed at Taylor as she looked back at her wife, "See. Not overprotective."

"Whatever you say babe." Paige said sipping her coffee, "We'll see when the girls come down."

"Morning." Parker said, announcing her presence as she strode past her parents and over to the fridge.

"Speaking of our terrorizers," Paige raised her eyebrow at Parkers cheerfulness, "What's gotten into you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Parker dismissed, pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"Mhm. Sure you don't." Paige said rolling her eyes, "Is Kacey up?" She asked as her eyes followed Parker around the kitchen.

"Oh she's up alright." Parker said excitedly, making her way over to the table with her breakfast, "She should be down soon."

Emily let out a small groan, her leg bouncing anxiously under the table, "Paige. I can't handle this." Emily admitted in distress.

Parker couldn't suppress the laugh that came out of her, milk slightly dribbling out of her mouth as she tried her best to hold her laugh in. She earned an unamused look from Paige although she was trying her best to not let out a laugh at Emily's ridiculousness herself. "Em, it's fine." Paige said setting her coffee down on the counter and walking over to Emily, squeezing her wife's shoulder gently in reassurance, "Relax."

"Yeah mama," Parker jumped in, "Don't worry, she's just trying out a new style." She said with a shrug.

Emily looked over at Parker, studying the girl's face, "What's with the smugness?"

Parker beamed, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm over the whole situation, "Because I'm about to become the favorite child again." She said before dropping her gaze to Taylor who sat across from her, "well second favorite child, but hey I'm moving up."

Paige rolled her eyes at her oldest daughter before looking back down at Emily "Trust me it's not that bad."

"Oh boy are you in for a treat of your own mom." Parker said to Paige, who frowned.

"And that's supposed to mean?" Paige asked her face scrunching in confusion, suddenly her interest peaked but before Parker could answer a grin slid onto the young brunettes face, her eyes moving past Paige and over towards the stairs causing Paige to turn around.

"Morning." Kacey said cheerfully as she strode past everyone.

Emily immediately got out of her seat following Kacey deeper into the kitchen, grabbing Kacey's shoulders and turning her to face her, inspecting her daughter carefully, "That's it? A noose piercing?" Emily aske slightly relieved as her eyes caught sight of the piercing, "Okay, I can handle that."

Kacey smiled brightly, "It's cool right?"

Emily wasn't necessarily pleased by the piercing but the many things that Kacey could have done that ran through her head throughout the night were far worse so Emily smiled softly at her, "You look beautiful." Emily offered.

"Thanks." Kacey said smile still planted on her face as Emily reached up and lightly touched the piercing, trying to inspect it but Kacey pulled her head back immediately reaching her hand up to cup her noise, "Ow!" She exclaimed causing Emily's eyes to widen slightly, retreating her hand instantly, "Don't touch it, it hurts." She groaned.

"Kacey." Emily said sternly.

"What?" Kacey said trying to sound as irritated as she could, moving her attention away from Emily.

"Where did you get that?" She asked already knowing she wasn't going to like the answer as she gripped Kacey's arm and made her turn around and look at her.

Kacey shrugged, "some girl's house."

"Some girl's house?" Emily asked shaking her head disapprovingly, "Kacey you can't just show up somewhere and let them thread a needle through your body. Did you even know the girl?"

Kacey shook her head, "No. But relax mom, it's fine."

Emily frowned and grabbed Kacey's chin in her hand, forcing the girl's head in a direction so she could get a better look at it, "Kacey take it out, it might be infected."

Kacey pushed Emily's hand away from her face, moving away from the older woman, "No, I'm not taking it out. Don't worry about it I'm fine"

Paige, sensing Emily's growing frustration decided that she should intervene, "Emily it's okay." Paige said stepping between her wife and daughter.

"Fine?" Emily asked, letting her frustration be known to everyone in the kitchen with her tone, "She let a stranger put a needle through her face on some whim. Do you know how stupid that is Kacey?" Emily said, ignoring Paige at this point, looking past her wife and at her daughter, "If it hurts that bad, it might be infected. Take it out." Emily stated vigorously.

Kacey stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest and simply shaking her head refusing to budge.

Paige sighed, stepping into Emily's view as her wife let out a huff throwing Kacey a look, daring Kacey to say something smart to her, "Okay Emily," Paige said grabbing Emily's shoulders and moving her back over to the table, making her sit down, "Just let her go to school and when she gets home later tonight and you've calmed down a little you guys can figure something out, okay?"

While Paige's attention was focused solely on Emily, Parker gave Kacey a thumbs up before gesturing for her to open up her jacket a little more. Kacey nodded and slipped the jacket down her shoulders enough so you could clearly see what she was wearing, looking over at Parker for approval. Parker nodded again before returning her attention to Paige and waiting.

Paige had quickly gotten Emily to calm down a little, turning to look at Parker, "I have a meeting later so I'm not going into work today, can you please get both of your sisters to school today?"

"Sure thing mom." Parker said as she grabbed her and Taylor's bowls and walked over to put them in the sink.

Paige nodded and finally turned her attention to Kacey, "And you, ple-" Paige stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell on Kacey who was looking at her expectantly. Paige let her eyes run up and down Kacey before she let out a short laugh through her nose and shook her head, "No. Not happening."

Kacey looked over at her mom innocently, "What?"

"Emily make her change." Paige calmly demanded as if it wasn't her problem to deal with.

"What happened to 'relax Em, let her go to school? It's all fine?' a second ago?" Emily asked.

Paige rolled her eyes, "Well a second ago I didn't realize she was wearing that." She said pointing to Kacey unimpressed.

"Mom I'm growing up." Kacey announced rolling her eyes, "I'm a sexual being now."

Parker couldn't help it as she let out a loud snort at the sight of the distressed look on Paige's face, "Oh my God, I can't believe you just said that." Parker mumbled under her breath, hoping only Kacey heard her.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no." Paige let out continuously as she ran her hand over her face letting out a pained moan, "Emily I can't. I-. I can't." Paige said refusing to look up at her daughter, "That's your territory Em, I…I just, I can't." She said flustered, "Make her change and do whatever it takes to prevent whatever just came out of her mouth from happening."

Emily shook her head, slightly amused at Paige, "Kacey." Emily said sternly again and gestured towards the stairs.

That's all it took for Kacey to huff out a sigh, "Fine." Kacey groaned as she stomped her way upstairs although a small smile formed on her face, pleased with how everything went.

Nobody said anything for a moment but eventually Parker let out a long dramatic puff of air to break the silence gaining her parents attention, "Wow. Looks like you two have quite the trouble on your hands." She said shaking her head.

Paige's head whipped up and she pointed an accusatory finger at Parker, "What do you know?"

Parker put her hand on her chest, "Me?" She asked mocking surprise, "I know absolutely nothing."

"Parker please do not make me yell at you too this morning." Emily threatened, giving Parker a look causing Parker's smugness to fall a little bit but not completely.

"We know you know what's going on." Paige said. She knew there was no way that Kacey wouldn't tell Parker and the fact that Kacey came downstairs in two articles of clothing that Paige knew were Parker's made it even more obvious that she was a part of this, but she also knew that there was no way Parker was going to sell Kacey out for nothing, "What do you want?"

"Paige." Emily scolded, not approving with Paige's strategy.

Paige shrugged, "What? I'm just trying to figure out what the hell is going on around here before these kids put me six feet under."

"Hmm." Parker hummed in interest, pleased with her position, "I want the truck."

"What?" Paige asked, having been distracted by Emily.

"The truck." Parker repeated, "Technically it's yours and although you said you were going to give it to me for my birthday, that didn't happen so I want the truck."

Paige looked over at Emily briefly before nodding, "Okay fine, it's yours." She said before looking over at Emily who was giving her an unpleasant look, "What?" Paige mumbled, "She's right we were going to give it to her eventually anyway."

Emily sighed but nodded in agreeance anyways, "Okay so out with it," Emily pushed, focused on Parker now, "What's going on?"

"Basically she thinks you guys are pushing her off to the side. She feels like she's getting lost in the middle of everything and really all she's looking for is a little attention." Parker admitted much to Emily and Paige's dismay, "She didn't know how to get your attention so she resorted to…well whatever this little "rebellion" act is."

Emily and Paige stared at Parker for a moment, no one saying anything until Parker spoke up again, "Man I feel like such a sellout. I should've let you guys sweat it out for a while." Parker said shaking her head, "Please for the love of God do not make it obvious that I told you what was going on with her." Parker said, throwing a pointed look at Emily who she already knew was going to give her away by the horrifically sad look Emily had trained on the ground.

"Thank you for telling us." Paige said, clearly feeling a little guilty but not nearly as bad as Emily appeared to feel.

"Thank you for the truck." Parker returned excitedly, grabbing the keys off the table, "Come on Tay, let's go wait for Kacey in the truck."

Taylor quickly followed Parker who wrapped an arm around her sisters shoulders, "You should've been taking notes in there kid, that stuff could come in use later on in your teen years." Parker teased as she led a laughing Taylor out into the garage.

Kacey came rushing down the stairs moments later, slightly startling Paige and Emily who instantly straightened up, "Better?" Kacey asked, gesturing to her clothes.

Paige nodded, "Thank you. Parker and Taylor already are out in the truck waiting for you."

Kacey nodded before she stopped and her eyes shifted between her parents suspiciously but she shook it off, "See you later." She offered before moving out of the kitchen and outside to the truck, leaving her parents alone in the kitchen.

Emily let out a soft groan as she dropped down into a chair at the table, her head dropping into her hands simultaneously, "Are we terrible parents?" She asked quietly, "I mean we haven't actually been ignoring her have we?"

Paige shook her head as she slowly sat down next to Emily, "We aren't terrible parents Em." She offered, pulling on Emily's wrist, trying to pry her hands away from her face, "There's been a lot going on lately. Sometimes we aren't great at distributing our time or efforts equally."

"She thinks we don't care about her Paige." Emily argued, her voice wavering, "How could we let that happen?"

Paige could now clearly see the tears preparing to fall from Emily's eyes and she sighed, not knowing how to get her wife to understand, "She knows we care about her Emily. All of our kids know that they're important and that we love them." She assured the other woman softly.

Emily still however shook her head, "Apparently not." She answered, voice cracking.

Paige let out a small chuckle, earning a glare from Emily, "Sorry," She offered immediately, "It's just not the first time this kind of thing has happened."

"What?" Emily asked curiously, wiping her eyes as she sniffled lightly, "It's not?"

Paige shook her head, reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind Emily's ear, "There are three of them Emily, there are only two of us and like I said sometimes things get away from us and we don't catch that we haven't given enough attention to one of them." Paige explained, "It's bound to happen every once in a while. We'll talk to her. It'll all be fine, I promise."

Emily nodded, pausing a moment before asking, "So what happened?"

"What?" Paige asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"The other times this has happened?" Emily clarified.

"Oh," Paige said letting out another chuckle, "Kacey's first minor episode was when we had Taylor. Kacey was not a fan of that decision."

Emily let out a soft laugh, wiping the remains of tears off of her face, "No?"

Paige shook her head, "We moved Kacey into Parker's room and turned Kacey's old bedroom into a nursery for Taylor and then when we brought her home and suddenly Kacey wasn't the baby of the family anymore." Paige shook her head again at the memories, "Ignited a very needy 6 year old Kacey."

Emily let out a genuine laugh, trying to imagine the scenario, "Sounds cute."

"Oh man, the most worst fake sick I've ever witnessed someone play. But she was adorable." Paige confirmed….

 _Emily plopped down on the couch next to Paige, resting her head in her wife's lap, "I'm so exhausted."_

 _"_ _Perks of having a newborn." Paige groaned out teasingly a she leaned back and closed her eyes, aimlessly running her fingers through Emily's hair as she soaked up the silence of the house that she knew would be short lived._

 _"_ _Mama!" Parker's voice split through the silence seconds later, causing Emily to groan, "Mommy!" Parker tried when she didn't get an answer from Emily, this one causing Paige to groan._

 _Before either of them could pull themselves off the couch Parker came into the room, stopping when she spotted them on the couch, "What do you need Park?" Emily asked patiently._

 _"_ _Kacey says she's sick." Parker relayed the message, climbing up onto the couch as she watched Emily jump up and hurry her way up the stairs._

 _"_ _Do you feel okay?" Paige asked as Parker leaned into her side._

 _Parker nodded, humming a response. Paige put the back of her hand to Parker's forehead, nodding in relief when the girl didn't feel warm. She remembers last year when Parker and Kacey both got the flu at the same time and she never wanted it to happen again._

 _Paige let Parker cuddle into her as they watched tv, Paige leaning her head back against the couch and closing her eyes the warmth from Parker's body lulling her to sleep, "Paige."_

 _Paige shot her eyes open, not sure how much time had passed since she fell asleep, "Hmm, Yeah?"_

 _Emily laughed at Paige as she startled awake, "You alright there?" Emily teased._

 _"_ _Yeah, fine." Paige responded, sitting up straighter, "How's Kacey?"_

 _"_ _Perfectly fine." Emily returned._

 _"_ _Well that's good." Paige said with a smile but it dropped a little when Emily frowned at her, "It is good, isn't it?"_

 _"_ _She's faking it." Emily stated._

 _"_ _What?" Paige asked confused, "Why would she fake it?"_

 _Emily shrugged, letting out a sigh, "I don't know. Maybe she just wants some attention from us. We have been a little preoccupied."_

 _Paige nodded, scooting Parker off of her and standing up, stretching as she let out a groan, "Alright let's go check her out then." Paige followed Emily up the stairs and into Parker and Kacey's room, "Hey Kace, I heard you weren't feeling well kiddo." Paige said softly as she approached the bed Kacey was laying in._

 _Kacey let out a pathetic fake cough and then instantly grabbed at her stomach, doing her best to groan in pain btu falling short, "Well we know she'll never be an actor." Emily mumbled as she followed her towards the bed causing Paige to laugh lightly, "Tell mommy what's wrong." Emily encouraged the girl to tell Paige what she had told her a few moments earlier when she had come up by herself._

 _"_ _I'm sick." Kacey said unconvincingly as Emily slipped into the bed with her and she instantly curled into Emily's side._

 _"_ _Aww man that's too bad." Paige said, earning a curious look from Emily, "I was just talking to mama and she said that she was going to send me out to get everyone ice-cream." Paige said, winking at Emily as her wife shook her head and smiled._

 _"_ _Ice-cream?" Kacey asked, ears perking up in interest as she turned in Emily's arms to look over at Paige._

 _"_ _Yep but since you're sick I guess you can't have any." Paige said mocking disappointment._

 _Kacey's lip instinctively jutted out into a pout, "Why not?"_

 _"_ _You can't have ice-cream when you have a stomach ache Kace, it'll make you feel worse." Emily said, pulling the little girl closer to her._

 _"_ _But, what if I feel better?" Kacey asked._

 _Paige stood up and shook her head as she placed the back of her hand on Kacey's forehead and pulled it away quickly, "Oh my God Kacey you are burning up." Paige said dramatically as she shook her hand as if she was burned by the contact. It took Emily everything she had to suppress the laugh that bubbled in the back of her throat at the shocked look on Kacey's face as a result of Paige's actions._

 _"_ _But I'm fine mama." Kacey said looking at Emily for help, "I'm not sick." She said shaking her head vigorously._

 _Emily mocked confusion, "But you told me you weren't feeling well."_

 _Kacey sat up and looked down into her lap, "I didn't mean it." She said and Emily and Paige shared a look of success._

 _"_ _You can't tell us you don't feel good if you are really fine Kace." Paige stated calmly as she sat down next to Kacey who nodded sadly._

 _"_ _Why'd you lie?" Emily asked, earning a shrug from Kacey._

 _"_ _Come on, you can tell us anything squirt." Paige said, placing a finger under the girls chin and guiding her to look back at her, "What's wrong?"_

 _"_ _You gave the baby my room." Kacey pouted causing Emily to throw a sad look at Paige, "I want to be the baby."_

 _This caused Paige to smile although Emily still looked a little guilty, "But you're becoming a big girl Kace. You can't be a baby forever."_

 _"_ _Although I wish you could be." Emily added as she pulled Kacey in tight to her chest and planted kisses on the girl's face until she burst out into a fit of giggles and tried to squirm out of Emily's arm. Emily loosened her grip and allowed the girl to scurry across the bed to Paige._

 _"_ _You'll always be our baby." Paige said, dropping a kiss to Kacey's cheek, "We love all three of you okay?"_

 _Kacey nodded her head, pleased with the current attention, "Ice-cream?" She asked innocently as she shot a wide grin up at Paige._

 _"_ _Yeah let's go get some ice-cream." Paige exclaimed, scooping Kacey up off the bed and over her shoulder, the little girl squealing in delight..._

Emily shook her head, a small smile spread across her face, "So our solution to solve anything has always been to give them something?"

"Tempt them with something Em, it's the perfect strategy." Paige stated, "Or at least it works on our kids."

Emily shook her head, "Well their temptations are getting more expensive." Emily teased, referring to the truck they had given to Parker this morning in return for information on her little sister.

"Yeah we might have to change up our strategies soon." Paige said with a laugh, Emily nodding in agreement.

"What about Parker?" Emily asked curiously, a smile still plastered on her face from the last story Paige told her.

"Threatened to run away." Paige deadpanned to Emily's surprise, "And then tried to. She didn't do a very good job though, although she did last longer than either of us expected."

"How old was she when that happened?" Emily asked, already completely intrigued, "Why'd she want to run away?"

Paige looked up in thought, "Around 5 I think. We both accidently went to Kacey's swim meet instead of one of us going to Parker's and one to Kacey's. Parker thought we liked Kacey more than her."

Emily let out an 'aww' as she leaned forward waiting for Paige to go on….

 _Emily rushed into the pool area hoping that Kacey hadn't noticed that she wasn't here yet. She glanced over to the group of small kids standing by the pool, her eyes searching and spotting Kacey almost instantly. She smiled and waved at Kacey, who eagerly waved back enthusiastically before pointing over to the stands. Emily's eyes furrowed in confusion as she followed Kacey's finger with her eyes. Her eyes widened as she spotted her wife who was now staring at Emily with a dumbfounded look on her face._

 _Emily quickly made her way down the side of the pool and up the small set of bleachers to her wife, "Paige what are you doing here?"_

 _"_ _What am I doing here? I've been here for half an hour. Why are you here?" Paige countered, "You're supposed to be on the other side of town with Parker."_

 _"_ _No you are supposed to be with Parker." Emily stated as she ran her hand through her hair._

 _Paige tried to think back to this morning when they discussed who was supposed to be where today but there morning had been so chaotic she honestly couldn't remember what they decided or who was wrong by being at Kacey's swim meet. Paige was brought out of her thoughts by Emily's voice, "What?" She asked, not having heard what her wife said._

 _"_ _I'll try to get to Parker's meet before it's over but I don't think I'm going to make it." Emily said stressfully._

 _Paige nodded, pecking Emily's lips quickly "Okay. Drive safely, I'll see you back at home."_

 _Emily nodded, throwing a quick 'bye' over her shoulder as she practically ran out of the pool area and back out into the parking lot, hopping into her car and racing all the way across town to where Parker's swim meet was. She parked quickly when she arrived and rushed inside, stopping in the doorway, knowing she had missed Parker's meet by the sight of girls who were clearly older than Parker swimming laps in the pool already. She sighed and glanced around the schools pool area in a slight panic when she didn't immediately find Parker._

 _Her eyes eventually found Parker sitting on a bench on the far side of the pool next to her swim instructor. Emily quickly made her way over, stopping next to the two, "I am so sorry I'm late." She said to both the instructor and her daughter._

 _"_ _It's okay. We haven't been finished for very long." The instructor said with a soft smile, "Parker did great today." She said as she stood up._

 _Emily kneeled down next to Parker, letting her hand fall on the little girl's leg, "Did you have fun?" She asked cheerfully but only received a small nod in return. Emily sighed as she stood back up and faced the instructor, "Thank you for waiting with her. I'll try to make sure this doesn't happen again."_

 _"_ _Don't worry about it Emily." She said reassuringly before looking down at Parker, "I'll see you next week Parker." She said waving to both girls as she walked away from them._

 _"_ _Sorry I was late baby," Emily said again feeling bad about it, "Me and your mom both went to Kacey's swim meet on accident and it was all the way across town." She explained although she wasn't sure how much of it Parker was paying attention to._

 _"_ _You went to Kacey's race?" Parker asked sadly and the pouted lip on her little girls face made Emily's heart wrench._

 _Emily nodded, running her hand through Parker's wet hair and straightening it out a little, "We mixed up the schedule on accident Parker, but we won't miss another one okay?" Emily offered with a smile, "I promise."_

 _Parker nodded, throwing Emily a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she stood up._

 _"_ _Ready to go home?" Emily asked, grabbing Parker's bag off the ground, wrapping one of her arms around the small brunette as they walked out to the car and helped her climb into the back seat before climbing into the driver's seat and heading home._

 _Parker sat quietly in the backseat not making a noise the entire ride home and instantly hopping out of the backseat and heading into the house as soon as Emily parked the car in the garage. Emily sighed, grabbing her and Parker's things out of the car and heading into the house, dropping their things on the counter with a sigh as soon as she got inside._

 _"_ _Everything okay?" Paige asked as she came into the room and looked at Emily._

 _"_ _I'm pretty sure Parker is mad that no one went to her swim meet," Emily informed Paige, "She didn't say a word to me once we left the pool."_

 _"_ _I'm sure she'll be okay." Paige reassured her wife, walking closer to her and planting a kiss on her cheek._

 _"_ _Mhm." Emily hummed in response still feeling a little bad. It had been the first time they had ever completely missed one of their kids swim meets. Or any activity their kid did for that matter. She knew it'd have to happen eventually but she hated no one being there and it made her never want to miss one again._

 _"_ _What are you doin' munchkin?" Paige asked, drawing Emily's attention._

 _Emily turned her attention to the young brunette who had just strode into the kitchen, pillow tucked under her arm, her favorite stuffed animal dangling from her hand, and a jacket tied around her waist causing both Emily and Paige to raise an eyebrow at her._

 _"_ _I'm leaving." Parker said simply as she dropped her things in the corner of the kitchen before climbing up on the counter and opening a cabinet, Emily rushing over to her and placing a soft hand on her back to make sure she didn't fall._

 _"_ _Yeah?" Emily asked, "Where are you going?"_

 _"_ _I'm running away." Parker said, grabbing a half-eaten bag of chips and turning to get off the counter._

 _Emily helped her down, throwing a concerned look at Paige who looked a lot more amused then Emily did, "What do you mean?" Paige asked, a small smile playing on her lips._

 _"_ _You don't like me anymore." She said as she reached down and tried to grab all of her things but struggled for a moment before she got everything back off the floor and into her arms, "You love Kacey more than me so I'm leaving."_

 _Emily sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair, "Parker. We do not love Kacey more than you."_

 _Parker simply ignored her as she made her way towards the front door, stopping when she got there and looking back at her mother's expectantly, "Mommy can you open the door?" She asked, looking down at all the stuff in her hands._

 _Paige smiled down at the girl and opened the front door, holding it open for her as she walked out, "Come back when you're ready okay?" Paige said as she kneeled down in front of Parker, "We'll be waiting for you okay? Love you kid." She added as she kissed the girl's cheek and stood back up._

 _"_ _Paige." Emily protested, smacking Paige on the chest, "Don't encourage her to run away. What are you doing?" She scolded, "Parker, sweetheart, comeback inside."_

 _Parker shook her head, turning her back to her parents and looking around, "Goodbye." She said before she started walking down to the sidewalk._

 _Paige chuckled as she watched, earning another smack from Emily, "Oh come on Em, it's kind of cute. Look at her." Paige said gesturing to their first born._

 _"_ _Follow her Paige and bring her back." Emily demanded before turning and walking back into the house._

 _Paige nodded, closing the front door and watching Parker closely through the window as she slipped her shows on quickly. Paige furrowed her brows when she saw Parker turn back around and make her way back up to the front door. Paige sat there expecting the little girl to knock on the door but instead the girl dropped her stuff and settled onto the porch._

 _"_ _Hey Em." Paige whisper yelled, trying to get her wife's attention._

 _"_ _What?" Emily asked as she came around the corner and into the room._

 _"_ _Shhh. Look." Paige said quietly as she pointed out the window._

 _Emily peaked out, having the perfect view of Parker sitting Indian style on their front porch, pillow placed neatly in her lap along with her stuffed giraffe and the bag of chips opened in front of her as she popped one into her mouth. "What is she doing?" Emily asked._

 _"_ _I think she thinks if she's not in the house than it counts as not being at home." Paige guessed with a smile._

 _"_ _How long do you think she'll sit out there?" Emily wondered out loud earning a shrug from Paige, "I give it 20 minutes before she knocks on the door and comes back in."_

 _"_ _No way, she'll last at least an hour." Paige said surely._

 _Emily raised her eyebrow as she looked at her wife, "Loser does dishes for the next two weeks?"_

 _"_ _You're on." Paige agreed confidently._

 _Paige and Emily went about their business, taking turns peeking out the window every once in a while to make sure Parker was still on the porch. Emily's predicted 20 minutes had passed a long time ago and Paige was eagerly looking at the clock as the last minute of the hour ticked by._

 _"_ _One hour!" She said eagerly as Emily let out a huff, "That's my girl!" Paige stated proudly._

 _"_ _I can't believe she's been out there so long." Emily said, shooting a nervous glance at the door, knowing Parker was on the other side, "Maybe we should go get her."_

 _"_ _She's fine babe." Paige said, "She's just sitting on the porch. No harm no foul. She'll come in in a little bit."_

 _Emily nodded despite the desire she had to force Parker back inside the house. Paige and Emily were both shocked when the second hour passed and Parker still sat firmly on the front porch. By the time the third hour rolled around Emily was a worried mess of a mother._

 _"_ _Paige she's been out there for three hours, this is ridiculous, we never should have let her sit out there in the first place. It's getting cold and it's now dark outside." Emily said as she nervously looked out the window._

 _"_ _Emily you've been staring out the window at her for the last half hour." Paige stated as she pulled Kacey who was lying beside her on the couch closer to her, "She's fine."_

 _"_ _I'm going to get her." Emily said, ignoring Paige and grabbing one of Paige's jackets that had been abandoned by the front door and slipped it on before opening the front door._

 _Parker slightly startled from the noise but only peaked back behind her to see who it was before she trained her eyes back on the empty street in front of their house._

 _"_ _Hey." Emily said as she slowly dropped herself down onto the floor to copy Parker's position on the porch._

 _"_ _Hi." Parker said lowly, not looking at Emily._

 _"_ _What are you doing out here?" Emily asked and Parker simply shrugged not offering an answer, "Would you please come back inside Park, it's getting cold out here and I don't want you to sit out here by yourself all night." Emily tried, "I made mac n' cheese for dinner."_

 _That caught Parker's attention quickly, "With extra cheese?"_

 _"_ _Lots and lots of extra cheese." Emily confirmed, "Just for you." Emily said scooting closer to her daughter._

 _"_ _It is my favorite." Parker contemplated._

 _"_ _I know it is." Emily stated, "Look Parker I know that me and your mom missing your race today upset you and we are both so so sorry. We didn't both go to Kacey's race because we love her more than you, we just thought the other was going to come to your race."_

 _"_ _So you didn't miss it on purpose?" Parker asked looking down into her lap._

 _Emily shook her head, "No and I won't ever miss one again."_

 _Parker nodded before looking at Emily seriously, "Can I have two bowls of macaroni?"_

 _Emily let out a small laugh as she nodded, "Will that get you to come back inside?" Parker nodded eagerly, "Okay then, come on." Emily said, standing up and reaching down to help Parker grab her things before leading her back into the house._

 _"_ _Mommy I'm home again." Parker shouted out towards Paige as she darted through the living room and into the kitchen._

 _Paige laughed as she looked over the top of the couch at Emily, "Well that was easy, she seems to be in a better mood."_

 _Emily smiled, dropping the girl's things inside the door, "Mac n' cheese is the way to our little girl's heart I suppose." Emily said as she locked the front door._

 _"_ _Mama!" Parker's voice boomed through the house impatiently causing Emily and Paige to laugh..._

Emily shook her head, "So then our kids have always been overly dramatic?"

"Yeah pretty much." Paige said with a chuckle.

By this point they had moved out of the kitchen and over to the couch, Emily's legs thrown carelessly over Paige's lap as she told her the stories about their kids. It was one of Emily's favorite things to do now and she could listen to Paige talk about the kids all day without complaint.

"I like when you tell me about them when they were younger." Emily voiced as she straightened up a little on the couch and leaned into Paige more, "You get this smile on your face," Emily explained as she ran her thumb over Paige's lips, smiling herself when Paige's lips curled up into a smile under her thumb, "Mhm like that." Emily said, "It's clear how much you love them."

Paige nodded, looking down bashfully, "I miss them at that age." Paige admitted, "When they would crawl in your lap whenever they got the chance and cuddled up next to you like they couldn't get close enough, I mean you couldn't go anywhere without them following you." She said with a laugh, "I didn't know how much I'd miss it, you know."

Emily nodded somewhat understandingly, "I love you." Emily said earnestly as she looked into Paige's eyes.

That smile that Emily loves so much slipped back onto Paige's face and it melted her, "I love you too." Paige said, happily meeting Emily in the middle when she leaned in for a kiss.

"What time do you have to leave for your meeting?" Emily asked as she swung her leg over to straddle Paige, who was now being pressed into the back of the couch by Emily's hand on her chest.

"Meeting?" Paige asked dazed causing Emily to laugh.

"For school Paige, your meeting for school." Emily reminded Paige.

"Oh." Paige said in realization, "Oh yeah. Umm well it's not that important," She said leaning up to press her lips to Emily's, letting her hand wander up Emily's back, "In fact I'm actually not feeling good," Paige said between kisses, "I should call them and let them know I'm home sick today."

"Mmm," Emily hummed into Paige's mouth, "How convenient."


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: As always, sorry for the long wait. I really hope some of you are still with me and that everyone who is enjoys the new chapter :)**

Emily rolled over as she gripped the sheet around her, holding it close to her body as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She quickly noticed that she was alone and there was no sign of Paige anywhere but she could clearly hear the soft murmur of the tv coming from downstairs accompanied by distant voices. She sat up, glancing at the clock on the nightstand and her eyes slightly widened in surprise when she saw that it was already late afternoon. She slipped out of bed, a little unwillingly, and threw on some clothes before heading downstairs.

By the time Emily got downstairs she found the living room empty and Paige standing alone in the kitchen, in front of the stove. A small smile found its way onto Emily's lips as she walked up behind her wife and snaked her arms around her waist, "Hey." She said softly, dropping a light kiss to the side of Paige's neck.

Paige let out a soft hum as she turned in Emily's arms, "Hey." She returned, pecking Emily's lips quickly.

"Why weren't you in bed when I woke up?" Emily asked with a pout that made Paige laugh.

"Well unfortunately someone has to feed all those kids you wanted." Paige teased, "I know you've been tired though lately so I thought I'd let you get a little extra sleep."

"They're already home?" Emily groaned, not knowing where the day went as she looked around for any signs of their kids.

Paige nodded in response, "I told them you weren't feeling well," Paige informed her, "and that they had to keep it down so they're all out back doing something."

"I thought you were the one who was supposed to be sick?" Emily teased with a smile as her fingers slipped under the back of Paige's shirt, "Although I will say for someone who's supposed to be sick you sure had quite the stamina this morning."

Emily's nails scratching the skin on her lower back lightly made Paige shutter a little as she thought back to their morning, "Craziest thing happened." Paige said exaggeratedly, "As soon as I called in sick I started feeling much better."

"Oh." Emily mocked amazement, playing along, "I must be magic because your stamina was accompanied by some serious endurance." She teased huskily.

"Well what can I say, you keep me young." Paige said, pulling Emily in for a kiss.

Emily hummed in approval, hooking her thumb into the back of Paige's shorts as Paige pulled her closer, "Good to hear." Emily muttered out against the brunettes lips.

"Someone's feeling better."

Paige and Emily both startled a little bit at the voice, Emily dropping her head against Paige's shoulder for a moment before turning around to find Parker standing in the doorway, as usual a smirk on her lips, "What do you need Parker?" Paige asked as she untangled herself from Emily and turned her attention back to the stove.

"Nothing," Parker answered as she walked towards the sink, "just scrapped my knee and came to rinse it off."

Emily followed behind Parker to the sink, "Are you okay?" She asked as she tried to bend around Parker and see if any real damage was caused to the girl.

Parker giggled and put a hand on Emily's shoulder, pushing her back a bit, "Jeez mama, I didn't lose my leg. It's just a scrape." She said, as she dampened a paper towel and jumped up on the counter before she ran it over her bloodied knee.

Emily put her hands up in defense, "Okay, okay. I was just going to help you clean it up." She said, walking over to a drawer on the other side of the room where she remembered seeing a box of band-aids. She grabbed a couple and walked back over to Parker who was still up on the counter, "Here."

Parker looked at the band-aids that Emily was offering her for a moment before hopping off the counter and back onto her feet as she shook her head, "No thanks, I'm good."

"Parker it's still bleeding." Emily pointed out sternly.

Parker looked over at Paige for help but was only met with a far to amused look from her mom who simply shrugged. Parker returned her attention over to Emily, "Don't make me put it on you myself." Emily warned.

Parker rolled her eyes, "Fine." She huffed out, taking the band-aids from Emily, "Really? Pink band-aids?" Parker scoffed as she tore one of the packages open, "Not exactly my color."

"They're Taylor's." Emily answered with a shrug.

"Happy?" Parker asked once she had applied the band-aids neatly over the cut on her knee.

"Yes, very. Thank you." Emily said exaggeratedly, as she grabbed Parker by the face and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Parker squirmed a little but Paige could tell her oldest daughter loved the attention by the smile that the younger brunette couldn't keep from her face as she finally managed to pull away from Emily and made her way back outside, shaking her head softly as she went. Paige smiled herself as she watched Emily's gaze follow Parker all the way outside and out of sight before she looked back at Paige.

"What?" Emily asked, noticing the look Paige was giving her.

Paige shook her head, "Nothing." She answered, turning back to the sink, "I just think it's adorable how you treat them." Paige admitted.

"And how would that be?" Emily asked as she leaned against the counter across from Paige casually.

Paige laughed, "Like they're still babies."

"One of them still is." Emily said with a small frown, "Ugh they're growing up way to fast. Do you see Parker? She's as big as I am now Paige." Emily said exasperated, "And Kacey's not too far behind her."

"I know, it's crazy." Paige agreed, looking over her shoulder at Emily, "But at least once we get them all out of the house, we can have more days like today. Just me and you." Paige said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Emily giggled as she shook her head, "Get your mind out of the gutter babe." She said, walking around the counter and sitting down, "It's going to kill me if Parker chooses a college far away from us." Emily said with a sigh, knowing that the colleges Parker had applied to were spread across the country.

"Don't worry you have a little more time to convince her to stay here." Paige said, "She did apply to the college that you worked at. Less than an hour away."

Emily nodded, "I guess." She answered although she doubted that Parker had any interest of going there at all now that she wasn't the coach of the swim team, "What about Kacey?" Emily asked, changing the subject, "Did she seem in a better mood when she got back?"

"I don't know. She hasn't said much to me." Paige said with a shrug, "She's been attached to Parker's side all afternoon." Paige shook her head, "I'm not sure if I should be happy that she has someone to talk to about how she feels or if I should be concerned by the fact that it's Parker that she's talking too."

"You mean someone that constantly ignores talking about how she feels and seems to handle all her issues with some kind of scheme." Emily offered.

"Exactly." Paige said, "I mean that entire thing this morning has Parker written all over it. Kacey never pulls anything like that." Paige said slightly irritated as she looked over at her wife, "She's very straight forward with her feelings."

"If she's so straight forward with her feelings then why didn't she say anything to us about it?" Emily asked displeased.

"Maybe I feel like I shouldn't have to."

"Jesus," Emily said as she startled from the unexpected voice behind her, "You kids need to learn how to announce yourselves when you enter a room." She said once she turned around and saw Kacey.

"Sorry." Kacey apologized half-heartedly as she closed the sliding glass door behind her.

"Come here." Emily said softly as she pulled the stool next to her out and gestured for Kacey to sit down. Kacey walked over a little hesitantly but sat down nonetheless, "Talk to us." Emily encouraged, "What's going on?"

"Sounds like you guys already know." Kacey said as she looked down at her hands, fumbling around with her fingers in her lap anxiously.

"Hey look at me." Emily said softly, continuing once Kacey's attention was on her, "You're right, you shouldn't have to ask for our attention. I promise you that we don't do it on purpose or because we love your sisters more, okay." Emily tried to explain, "There's just been so much going on and that's not a good excuse to make you feel the way you do but we're trying our best."

"There are only two of us Kace." Paige jumped in, "We try to split our attention evenly between you girls but sometimes we clearly don't do the best job. We'll work on it though, promise kid. All you had to do was say something. We get lost in everything that's going on sometimes and it's hard for us to realize that we aren't paying you enough attention."

Kacey nodded slowly, "I know that you guys try, it just sucks sometimes. Especially since mama's accident, things have just been really crazy and I don't want to make a big deal out of something ridiculous but…"

Emily shook her head, not even letting Kacey continue, "No it's not ridiculous honey." She reassured, placing her hand on Kacey's knee and giving it a soft squeeze, "If you feel left out or pushed to the back then you should let us know. I know you shouldn't have too but like your mom said, there are only two of us and as hard as we try we can't always be perfect. Sometimes we need a little help so we know what's going on with you guys."

Kacey nodded again in understanding, "Okay."

"Okay." Paige said with an agreeing nod, "We love you Kace." She said as she walked around the counter and over to Kacey, placing a firm kiss on the top of her head, "All three of you. More than anything."

Emily nodded in agreement, wrapping Kacey up in a hug once Paige let her go and returned to the other side of the kitchen, "And you definitely don't have to act out in order to get our attention." Emily said as she pulled away, frowning at the piercing still in her daughter's nose.

"Still not a fan huh?" Kacey asked, a hint of teasing in her tone as she looked at her mom with furrowed eyebrows.

"Not particularly." Emily admitted, instantly feeling better now that Kacey was lightening up the mood.

"I think it's kind of cool." Paige countered without any thought causing Kacey to laugh but earning a disapproving look from Emily, "What? It is!" Paige defended with a shrug.

"Please don't start encouraging acts of rebellion." Emily said, shaking her head at her wife.

"If I recall you had quite the few acts of rebellion of your own." Paige threw out there, raising an eyebrow at her wife with an amused smirk knowing it would instantly get a rise out of Emily after their conversation about it the other night.

Emily immediately shot a glare at Paige while Kacey's eyes widened, her head whipping to the side to look at Emily, "What!?" Kacey asked intrigued, "What'd you do? Did you pierce something too?"

"Not exactly." Paige murmured quietly, but still loud enough for the others to hear, reacting just in time to dodge the half full water bottle that Emily grabbed off the counter and threw at her.

"Paige!" Emily warned, "Stop." She said sternly.

"Come on mom," Kacey said, pulling out of her seat a little as she leaned over the counter closer to Paige, "you have to tell me now." She begged with pleading eyes.

"No." Emily jumped in quickly, "No, she doesn't have to do anything." She protested.

"Ooh is it something juicy?" Kacey asked, pushing her mom for the answer.

Paige widened her eyes playfully at her daughter, ignoring her wife as she brought her hand up to point down dramatically as she mouthed 'tattoo' causing Kacey's eyes to widened genuinely as her jaw slacked in shock, "No way!"

"I swear Paige. I'm going to kill you." Emily threatened seriously before looking at Kacey and shaking her head, "Not a word to anyone, you understand?" She said pointing a finger at Kacey purposefully.

Kacey's shocked face quickly transformed into one of complete enthusiasm, "Oh my god, I have to see it." She said letting her eyes wander over Emily's body, "Where is it?" She asked excitedly, a wide smile on her face.

"No." Emily said, standing up without a second thought but stopping when Kacey gripped her arm, not letting her go.

"How long have you had it?" Kacey asked curiously, knowing that Emily had to have had it for a long time.

"High school." Paige answered again thoughtlessly.

Emily whipped her head around to face her wife throwing her another glare, "Really Paige?" She scolded.

"Wait. Hold up." Kacey said standing up, "You yelled at me for piercing my nose and you literally got a tattoo in high school?" She asked incredulously.

"See what you did?" Emily said irritated with her wife who simply mumbled out a quick 'sorry,' honestly not having meant to do that. Emily looked back at Kacey, "Look it doesn't matter what I did in high school okay? Just because I did it doesn't make it okay for you to do it."

Kacey shook her head, a small smile creeping onto her face, "Fine, but you have to at least show me." Emily shook her head again but Kacey wasn't going to let this one go, "Okay have it your way," Kacey said with a shrug, letting go of Emily's arm and walking by her and over to the sliding glass door that led out to the backyard, stopping at the last moment to look over her shoulder at Emily, "I bet Parker will get a kick out of this one. You know she's actually been thinking about a tattoo lately."

Emily paused for a moment to stare at Kacey in surprise, "Is she trying to blackmail me?" Emily finally asked, a little taken back as she turned to look at Paige.

"Yep. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's happening here." Paige said still standing in her spot on the other side of the room, "I told you she's been spending way too much time with Parker lately. She's turning our angel into a schemer."

"Fine." Emily agreed through gritted teeth, Kacey squealing in excitement as she rushed back over to Emily's side. Emily rolled her eyes at her daughter and the chuckling she could hear coming from Paige behind her, "But if I show you, nobody else finds out about it. I mean it Kacey, not a word."

Kacey nodded eagerly in agreement, "Yeah, yeah. Got it. Now let me see."

Emily hooked her thumbs into the left side of her pants and slid them off her hip a little to reveal the small tattoo that sat low on her waist. Kacey's hand flew up to cover her mouth to contain the laugh bursting out of her, "Oh my god you actually have one." She said in disbelief.

Emily couldn't help the wide smile that spread across her lips. As annoyed as she was with Paige for spilling her secret to their daughter, the pure joy on Kacey's face made up for it. Emily let out a small laugh of her own as she fixed her pants, letting them settle back into their rightful place, "Yes, I actually have one. Our secret though alright? Don't give me up like your mother just did." She said glaring at Paige again.

Kacey laughed as Paige raised her hands in surrender before looking back at Emily with a firm nod, "Our secret."

"That's my girl." Emily said as she swung her arm loosely around Kacey's shoulder and pulled her into the side of her body, "Feel better?" Emily asked, dropping a quick kiss to Kacey's temple.

Kacey nodded, "Yeah. We're good." She said sincerely, letting her glance move to Paige being met with a wink and a soft smile from her.

They were interrupted when the sliding glass door was pulled open and Taylor burst into the room laughing, the distant sound of Parker yelling after the little girl easily heard before Taylor shut the door aggressively behind her and pushed the lock on it. The room quickly filling with the little girls squeals of laughter but before anyone could question the young girl's acts Parker appeared quickly on the other side of the glass and banged against it with the palm of her hand, trying to pull the door open with her other.

"You're dead runt." Parker's muffled voice came through the glass as she glared down at a still giggling Taylor.

Kacey's laughter was next to fill the room as she caught sight of a soaking wet Parker on the other end of the door. Emily heard Paige's chuckling coming from behind her as well as Parker's pleading eyes caught hers and she motioned for Emily to let her in. Taylor quickly rushed away from the door as Emily moved towards it, unlocking it and letting Parker barge in unhappily. Taylor took off upstairs and Parker made the move to run after her but Emily quickly grabbed her, keeping her on the tile of the kitchen floor.

"No, you are not ruining my floors." Emily protested, Parker letting a small growl out in protest, "What happened?" Emily asked, finally letting a smile creep onto her face as she got a good look at a disgruntled Parker standing in front of her.

"She pushed me in the pool." Parker stated grumpily, Paige and Kacey's laughter reviving itself from the back of the kitchen, "It's not funny." Parker threw over at the pair annoyed.

Kacey shrugged, "Karma." She said matter-of-factly, "For telling them exactly what I told you not to tell them." Kacey explained when Parker gave her a confused look.

Parker stood up a little straighter as she glanced around at her parents and Kacey, "Oh. Did everything get worked out at least?" She asked.

Kacey nodded her head along with Emily and Paige, "Yeah, everything's good but still you gave me up in less than 24 hours." Kacey pointed out, "That's weak."

"Okay girl's that's enough." Emily said before Parker could even answer Kacey.

"Yeah go get cleaned up, dinners done." Paige added.

Parker groaned, "I was supposed to meet up with Brooke tonight to study for a test I have tomorrow."

"Well go text her," Paige offered, "she can come over after dinner and you guys can study here."

Parker nodded, "Okay fine." She accepted, turning to go upstairs and change but Emily stopped her again.

"Nope. Strip down here." Emily said, "You're not tracking water all through my house."

"Mama, come on. It's not that bad." Parker said looking down at herself and the puddle that surrounded her feet on the tile floor.

"Come on. Off." Emily said, tugging on the shirt that was clinging to Parker's torso.

"Okay, okay. I got it." Parker finally gave in, swatting at Emily's hands and forcing her away as she quickly stripped off her shirt and tugged her jean shorts off of her body, dropping them in a pile on the floor, "Good?" She asked looking at Emily for permission.

Emily nodded, "Thank you." She said allowing Parker to take off upstairs. She bent down and picked up Parker's soaked clothes, moving to take them to the laundry.

"Kacey could you help your mom by wiping up the floor?" Paige asked, earning a small groan of protest from Kacey who nonetheless grabbed some paper towels before walking over and bending down to clean up the small mess.

Soon everyone was back downstairs and sat around the kitchen table, enjoying a nice family meal accompanied by effortless small talk. Shortly after everyone had finished, they were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Parker shooting up out of her seat at the table to get it. Once Parker answered the door to find an expected Brooke, the two young girls excused themselves after short 'hellos' and headed up to Parker's room leaving Kacey, Taylor, Emily and Paige at the dinner table.

"So what's going on there?" Emily asked Kacey unknowingly.

"They're back together." Kacey said, "Or at least they're back to whatever it was they were before."

Paige's face scrunched up in confusion, "Wait, what happened to McKenna?"

"Oh that's done." Kacey informed her parents, "Just didn't really work out." She said leaving it at that.

Emily nodded, "And what about your dating life? Anything going on there?"

Kacey scoffed, "Unfortunately not. Parker scared the last boy of interest off and he hasn't talked to me since." She said rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Perfect. Saves me the trouble of having to do it." Paige said sincerely with a smile on her face, it quickly turning into a frown when Emily immediately kicked her under the table, "Ow. What?"

Emily ignored her wife, putting her attention back on Kacey, "It's okay. I'll try to keep your mother and sister in check for you." She offered with a smile.

"Thank you." Kacey said, "At least someone's on my side here."

"You know I feel like I was just pregnant with you." Emily said with a small shake of her head, "Now you guys are dating and getting into trouble. I can't believe I have one girl about to graduate from high school and the other is going into her last year." She said as she cupped Kacey's cheek lovingly before dropping her hand back down to the table.

A small smile grazed Kacey's face as she looked at Emily, "Wait, you remember being pregnant with me?"

It surprised everyone at the table when Emily looked around before nodding timidly, "Yeah I think so. Some things have been coming back to me a little bit lately."

"Em, why didn't you say something?" Paige asked, scooting to the edge of her chair.

Emily shrugged, "It's nothing big or significant. Just bits and pieces of things have been coming back to me this last week." She admitted, "I have no way of knowing if any of it is even true though. Sometimes I feel like I'm almost making it up or something." She said shyly.

It had started happening a few weeks back. A dream, something someone said, something someone would do, all sparking a memory in her head. As excited she had been about possibly getting some memories back she also had no real confirmation that any of them had actually been real memories coming back to her. So instead of getting everyone's hopes up she decided to keep the new revelation to herself until now.

"That's great Em." Paige encouraged, perching her elbows up on the table and leaning across the table a little closer to Emily, "Talk it out. What do you remember?"

Emily took a moment to glance around at everyone, all attention completely on herself, "Well I remember that couch we used to have." She said with a giggle, looking back to Paige, "I loved that thing. It was the most comfortable thing I've ever been on."

Paige laughed along, Kacey and Taylor glancing back and forth between their parents with interest, "You hardly left that couch when you were pregnant with Kacey." Paige confirmed, "I bet your mom would've given birth to you on that thing if we would've let her." Paige joked towards Kacey.

"Okay I wasn't that bad." Emily countered with a teasing glare, but the corners of her lips tugging up letting everyone know that she was enjoying it.

"Please, for the last month of your pregnancy you lived on that thing." Paige continued, "The only reason we ever got rid of it was because Parker spilled that juice all over the side of it when she was a toddler and we couldn't get the stain out."

Emily nodded, the image of the dark juice against the light material of the couch coming back to her easily, "Oh yeah, that's right." She said enthusiastically.

"Your mom had me running around everywhere the week before you were born," Paige recalled as she traded her attention back and forth between Kacey and Taylor, "Between trying to take care of a 1 year old Parker and your pregnant mother, along with having to get ready for a newborn I was a mess."

"What do you expect me to do to help? I was coming up on 9 months pregnant." Emily argued, "The only thing I asked you to do was finish putting Kacey's room together. It's not my fault you waited until the last minute to do it."

Paige dropped her head back and groaned, "I still strongly hate that crib you bought her." She said before turning her attention to Kacey, "Your mom just had to buy you the most complicated crib that they had to offer. It took me all day to put that thing together."

Emily laughed, "Paige face it you just aren't the handyman you thought you were."

"Excuse you," Paige said offended, "I built a house, mind you."

Emily rolled her eyes, that being Paige's comeback for whenever her handyman skills were brought into questions. Leaking pipes under the sink. Playsets in the backyard. Paige couldn't do any of it. She tried. Really hard. But it just wasn't her thing and everyone in the house knew and accepted this, with the exception of Paige herself.

"You know what, whatever." Paige said a smile playing on her lips as everyone at the table gave her the same look as Emily, backing up her statement that Paige wasn't the best when it came to fixing things or putting them together, "I finished the stupid crib eventually didn't I?"

Emily nodded, "Yes you did." She said reaching across the table and linking her fingers with her wife's, "But only because I helped.".….

 _…_ _..Emily shuffled around on the couch trying to see over the back of the couch, her eyes searching for her wife. She let out a huff when she didn't see her and dropped back down to the couch, looking back at the tv in front of her. A moment later she saw something out of the corner of her eye that caught her attention, she craned her head a little to find Parker waddling around the corner of the couch a little unsteadily. The little girl had just taken her first steps a couple months ago and hasn't stopped wandering around the house since._

 _"_ _Hey little one, what are you doing?" Emily cooed at the girl enthusiastically, looking around again briefly for Paige expecting her to follow the girl into the room but when she didn't Emily returned her attention to Parker, "Where's mommy?" She asked as Parker walked over to her and started to try to climb up onto the couch with her. Emily assisted the little girl and eventually managed to situate the girl up with her._

 _Parker shuffled around on the couch, Emily's hands softly resting on her hips as the little girl leaned her back against Emily's chest comfortably, babbling incoherently._

 _"_ _Oh is that right?" Emily asked as if she could tell what the girl was trying to say, "Well mama's hungry so I hope she's close behind." She said, looking back again for Paige but not finding her. She sighed, shuffling a little bit before dropping her head back down and waiting._

 _Emily finally heard the sound of feet pattering around the house a little while later, along with Paige's quiet voice. Emily shook her head knowing exactly what her wife was doing. She leaned in closer to Parker, "Any chance she's looking for you?" She whispered, Parker giggling softly and squirming when Emily poked her fingers gently into the little girl's sides._

 _As soon as the noise left Parker's mouth she heard hurried footsteps enter the living room and she looked back in time to catch the worry wash away from Paige's features as a sigh of relief left her mouth, "Lose something?" Emily asked, quirking an eyebrow at her wife._

 _Paige rolled her eyes although Emily could see the slight guilt in her eyes, "How long has she been with you?"_

 _"_ _No more than 10 minutes." Emily said with a soft smile as she ran her hand gently over Parker's head._

 _Paige let out a heavy sigh, "That long huh?" She said as she sat down on the floor in front of Emily, leaning her back against the couch, "I didn't even notice she walked off. I was trying to finish putting that stupid crib together."_

 _Emily couldn't help but laugh at the clear venom in Paige's voice, "I told you we could've just called my dad. He would've been more than happy to put it together for us."_

 _"_ _I'm more than capable of putting a crib together Emily." Paige said defensively._

 _"_ _Okay." Emily said, leaving it at that knowing that Paige had been stubborn her entire life and that that wasn't going to change anytime soon, "Can you make me something to eat? I'm starving." She said with an exaggerated groan._

 _Paige dropped her head back against the seat of the couch to look at Emily, but immediately was met with Parker's eager hand poking at her face which elicited a giggle from Emily as Paige swatted Parker's hand away lightly, "She's trouble." Paige said, a smile teasing her lips as she pushed herself off the floor._

 _Emily pulled Parker closer to her, "Not my baby." She disagreed as she nuzzled her nose against Parker's cheek and kissing it repeatedly causing the little girl to let out another series of giggles._

 _Paige shook her head, a smile on her face as she made her way into the kitchen, "Yeah well you say that because she's good when she's with you." Paige said as she opened the fridge and searched through it for something to make, "But as soon as you turn around and it's just me and her she's trouble. I'm telling you Em," She said, looking back over to observe Parker quietly snuggled into Emily, "she's nothing like that." The brunette suggested gesturing over to their daughter._

 _Emily laughed, standing up from the couch before leaning down to pick up Parker and settle her on her hip as best as she could with her rounded belly in the way, "Maybe you'll have better luck with the next one." Emily offered playfully._

 _Paige glanced over at Emily who was moving towards her and couldn't help but smile as her eyes ran over a very pregnant Emily, her sweats hanging low on her hips, her stomach stretching her ridden up tank top, which revealed the outstretched skin of her lower stomach, "You hear that in there?" Paige asked as Emily reached her and handed off Parker to her, "Someone's gotta go easy on me." She finished, placing a hand on Emily's stomach._

 _"_ _I'm sure she will." Emily reassured placing a loving kiss on her cheek as she grabbed the plate in front of her wife and moved to sit at the table._

 _"_ _She better." Paige stated with a huff, "Because we know this one doesn't." She said leaning forward and tipping Parker back, the girl squealing in happiness as Paige tickled her stomach with her free hand, "You're barely past one and you're already running me in circles." She laughed as she straightened back up, "And we definitely know that one over there doesn't go too easy on me either." Paige loudly whispered to Parker before looking over at Emily._

 _"_ _Mama." Parker squealed out loudly when she saw Paige gesturing over to Emily._

 _Paige laughed as she nodded at Parker enthusiastically, "Yeah that's right. Mama's mean."_

 _Emily playfully stuck her tongue out at Paige, "You wonder why she's trouble when she's with you." She said taking a bite of her food, "You both are trouble." She said gesturing between the two with her fork, "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree."_

 _Paige fake gasped as she looked down at Parker, "Can you believe that?" She said, Parker shaking her head no when she saw Paige doing it, "Me either kid. She turned on us fast."_

 _Emily simply shook her head at the pair, but loving every minute of it. She loved having a baby running around, getting to watch Paige interact with something that she had previously been so afraid of so seamlessly. And she couldn't wait for their second one to get here. To keep building their family and finally getting everything she had always wanted._

 _"_ _Ma. Ma." Parker said as she reached out for the leftover food that Paige had been cutting up on the counter in front of them._

 _Paige picked up a small piece of fruit and held it up to Parker's mouth, the girl immediately chewing the soft fruit messily. Paige ran her thumb over the girl's bottom lip, wiping up the trail of food before walking over to Emily and setting Parker down in the chair next to her, "Here can you keep an eye on her, I have a crib to finish."_

 _"_ _Yeah." Emily said, holding out her fork for Parker to take some food off of it, "Can you get her juice out of the fridge first?"_

 _Paige nodded, grabbing Parker's sippy cup out of the fridge and dropping it into Parker's eager hands before walking off to the back room where she was trying to figure out how to put Kacey's crib together. She stopped in the doorway, hands on her hips as she looked around the floor at the scattered parts, sighing deeply before dragging her feet over to the instruction manual and dropping to the floor. Forty-five minutes later she was planted in nearly the same spot when Parker ran into the room, Emily following right behind her._

 _"_ _Haven't heard from you in a while. Thought we'd come check on how you're doing." Emily said, wandering deeper into the room and dropping down in a chair set up in the corner._

 _"_ _Do they really need to make this so complicated? I mean technology is far enough along, should there really be this many parts and steps to follow?" Paige frowned as she dropped the instructions down to the floor and looked up at the pieces she had put together already, "I should be able to put together a crib without having to worry about it collapsing when I put our child in it because I built it wrong."_

 _Emily chuckled at the concentration on Paige's face as she looked between the instructions and crib, examining what she was putting together closely, "You're doing great, don't get me wrong but I really don't feel like it should be taking you this long."_

 _Paige grabbed Parker, pulling her away from the small screws she was trying to grab off the floor before looking back at Emily, "It's not as easy as it looks." She stated with a frown, "Maybe if they didn't print the instructions so fucking small, it'd be a little easier to follow."_

 _"_ _Paige! Language please." Emily scolded, gesturing down towards Parker who was looking between Emily and Paige curiously from the floor._

 _"_ _Sorry." Paige apologized with a sigh, grabbing onto Parker's hands and helping the girl steady herself as she stood in front of Paige, "This thing is just making me crazy. I've been trying to figure it out all day." She said, a hint of defeat in her tone._

 _"_ _Here let me see the instructions." Emily said reaching out towards Paige, who handed them over happily. Emily quickly flipped through the booklet as Paige occupied herself with Parker on the floor, "Babe come here." Emily said after a moment._

 _Paige stood up and walked over to Emily, knowing that it was harder for her wife to get around now, "What?" She asked, standing to the side of the chair Emily was in._

 _Emily looked up at her wife's face, studying her face as Paige squinted harshly at the booklet in Emily's hands, trying to look at what Emily was showing her, "Can you see this?" Emily asked._

 _Paige gave Emily a look, "What?" She asked defensively, "Of course I can."_

 _Emily narrowed her eyes at Paige, "Paige."_

 _"_ _I told you Emily, they printed it so damn small." She defended herself._

 _Emily snorted, earning a glare from Paige, "Oh my god, Paige can you really not see this?" She asked which earned a scoff from Paige, the brunette grabbing the instructions out of her wife's hand and making her way back to the floor in front of the pieces grumbling under her breath as she went, "Babe?" Emily tried._

 _"_ _What Emily?" Paige snapped slightly._

 _Emily let out a soft laugh as she climbed out of her chair and walked over to stand behind Paige, dropping a hand to her shoulder, "That print is not that small."_

 _"_ _Okay well I think it is." Paige disagreed._

 _"_ _Okay well I don't think you can see." Emily argued calmly._

 _"_ _I have always been able to see just fine." Paige said, pulling Parker into her lap._

 _"_ _You're getting older." Emily pointed out, "Vision changes. I know you aren't that great at the whole building thing but I have a strange feeling that even you aren't this bad and maybe you could've finished this a long time ago if you could actually see what you were supposed to be doing without squinting so hard."_

 _Paige shrugged, letting out a heavy sigh, "Hey I built a house. I think I can handle a crib." She argued, earning nothing more than an eye roll from Emily._

 _"_ _How long are you going to use that one?" Emily asked with a shake of her head._

 _"_ _Forever." Paige stated proudly._

 _Emily laughed as she started to try to sit herself onto the floor, Paige instantly pulling herself up onto her knees to grab Emily's arm and help steady her as she moved into a sitting position on the floor, "Here, what if I tell you what to do and you do it?" Emily offered, reaching out an open hand, silently asking for the instructions._

 _"_ _Oh I like it when your mama's bossy." Paige said to Parker quietly as she wiggled her eyebrows playfully._

 _Emily widened her eyes as a wide smile made its way onto her face, grabbing the booklet out of Paige's hands and smacking her on the head with it lightly, "Not in front of the kid."_

 _"_ _What? She won't remember." Paige dismissed, sliding Parker over closer to Emily._

 _"_ _Mhm, well let's hurry up and finish this thing and maybe I'll boss you around a little later." Emily teased._

 _"_ _Well what are you waiting for," Paige said, gesturing to the instructions as she moved towards the parts on the floor purposefully, "let's get it done."_

 _Emily laughed, pulling Parker closer to her as she directed Paige on what to do. When things began to go smoothly Emily figured that she had been right and that Paige hadn't been able to see the directions very well because they got it done within the next hour. She smiled as Paige added the finishing touches to the crib and stood back to look over her work._

 _"_ _Boom, Done." Paige exclaimed happily as she turned around to face Emily, "See no problem. Told you I could handle it." She said crossing her arms proudly._

 _"_ _Yeah thanks to me." Emily snickered, "Who knows how long you would've been in here if I wouldn't have come and helped you."_

 _"_ _Well I guess we have always been better as a team." Paige said with a wink, making Emily smile as she reached up gesturing for Paige to help her stand up._

 _"_ _That we have." Emily agreed, pressing a light kiss to Paige's lips once she had brought her back to her feet._

 _Paige smiled before looking down at Parker, "Hey kid what do you think? Wanna test it out?" She asked Parker, a hint of excitement in her voice as she grabbed Parker under her arms and swung the little girl off the floor and safely into the crib, a stream of giggles bubbling out of the child causing Paige to laugh along with her._

 _"_ _I think she approves." Emily said as the little girl instantly settled down into the crib, laying down as soon as Paige let her go._

 _"_ _Hey, that's not yours." Paige said playfully as she reached into the crib and squeezed Parker's stomach lightly with her hand, "It's for your sister when she gets here."_

 _Parker simply stared up at Emily and Parker, slipping her thumb into her mouth carelessly, burrowing herself deeper into the small mattress in contempt. Emily let out a soft giggle, "How hard do you think it's going to be to teach her how to share?"_

 _"_ _Oh impossible." Paige said matter-of-factly, "Wait until the day the new baby gets old enough to go after Parker's stuffed giraffe," Paige said referring to the one inanimate object that Parker had managed to grow attached to in her life so far, "Game over for new baby."_

 _Emily laughed but nodded in agreement, "It'll definitely be interesting." She said as she smiled down at Parker in the crib, running her hand gently over the top of the child's head, "Well that didn't take long." Emily said as she watched Parker's sucking on her thumb slow and her eyes began to droop shut._

 _Paige reached in and gently picked up the girl, earning a small whine but it instantly subsided when Paige put the girl against her chest and rubbed her back soothingly, "Looks like it's bed time." Paige said, following Emily out of the room, but stopping at the door and looking back into the room, taking a deep breath as she glanced around the now finished nursery before flicking off the light and closing the door behind her….._

….."I'm guessing since I'm okay, you managed to build the crib right and it didn't collapse on me." Kacey said, a smirk slipping on her face at the annoyance on Paige's face.

"Yes she did a great job putting it together." Emily jumped in, knowing that if she didn't the two would playfully take shots at each other for who knows how long, "And that's also the story of how we found out your mother needed reading glasses." Emily teased, knowing Paige hated that fact that she needed glasses.

Paige predictably rolled her eyes, "Your mom's still mean." She deadpanned causing everyone at the table to laugh.

"Did Kace ever try to take Parker's giraffe?" Taylor asked from the other side of the table.

This time Paige laughed as she nodded, "Yes she did." Paige said looking between her kids, "And as predicted Parker was having none of it."

"God I've never heard a kid scream and cry so loud." Emily added dropping her head back at the memory of Parker's screams echoing throughout the entire house.

"I walked into the room to find that stupid giraffe in your hands," Paige continued, looking over at Kacey who had a large smile on her face, "and Parker screaming at the top of her lungs looking like she was going to murder you on the spot." She said with a shake of her head.

"Even after we gave her back the giraffe she wouldn't stop screaming." Emily explained, "I had to sit with that kid for half an hour to calm her down."

"Long story short, you never touched that giraffe again." Paige said with a laugh, "I think you were scared to. It's like it scarred you when Parker reacted like that. Lesson learned."

Kacey shook her head, "She still won't let me touch that thing."

Emily looked at Kacey surprised, "She still has it?"

"You really think she'd ever let us get rid of that thing?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow, "Every once in a while I still catch her sleeping with it. I can't believe you haven't noticed it in her room yet."

Emily simply shook her head, "I guess they grow up but they don't really change all that much do they?" She said as she looked over at Paige who smiled softly at her wife.

"No." Paige reassured, "They're still your babies."

Emily smiled lovingly back at Paige, her wife staring back at her happily, only looking away when Kacey abruptly stood up, "Okay," She dragged out, "And there's our cue Taylor." She said pushing in her chair and waiting for Taylor who happily hopped out of her chair and moved towards the stairs. Kacey following behind her little sister, leaving their parents alone.

They both made their way upstairs, Taylor running further down the hall and into her own room while Kacey stopped at her own door at the other end of the hall. She opened the door without thinking about it but cringed in disgust when she walked into the room to see Brooke on top of Parker on her sister's bed on the other side of the room. Brooke immediately slid off of Parker and shot Kacey an apologetic smile while Parker groaned in protest, "We're busy. Go away."

"I thought you were up here studying." Kacey said as she ignored Parker's request for her to go away, instead walking over to her bed and sitting down.

"We were." Parker grumbled.

Kacey scoffed, "Now I know why your grades are so bad."

Parker rolled her eyes before shooting Kacey a look, "Ha. You're hilarious." She said as she sat up, running her fingers through her disheveled hair.

Brooke giggled as she smacked Parker's shoulder lightly with the back of her hand, "Come on be nice to your sister." Parker shot a curious look at Brooke as the blonde got off her bed and walked over to Kacey's, casually throwing herself down onto the bed next to the girl, "So Parker said you worked things out with your parents. I'm glad everything turned out okay."

Kacey smiled down at her, "Yeah everything's sorted out now. You were right, all I had to do was say something and they promised to work on it."

"I knew they would." Brooke responded casually, rolling onto her side and perching her head on her palm, putting her weight on her elbow as she looked at Kacey, "And I see you're still rocking the piercing, so your mom must not have killed you like expected." She said with a chuckle.

Kacey let out a small laugh of her own, "No. Apparently she's done worse in her time." Kacey said earning an intrigued look from Brooke.

"Do tell." Brooke said arching an eyebrow in curiosity. Parker's eyebrow raised in the same curiosity as she sat on the other side of the room, apparently forgotten as she listened to the conversation.

Before Kacey could answer though Parker spoke up, "Hi. Yeah. Still here." She said, waving a hand in the air awkwardly as she tried to get the other two girl's attention, "Don't mean to break up the love feast or anything," She said looking between her sister and the other girl, "but it's weird."

Kacey and Brooke both giggled, "See told you she'd hate that we actually had a good time together." Kacey said watching Brooke roll herself off the bed and walk back over to Parker.

"She's just needy." Brooke said, swinging her arm over Parker's shoulder as she sat down next to the brunette, "She's not good at sharing."

"So I've heard." Kacey offered back, enjoying the perplexed look on Parker's face.

"Oh come on," Brooke said, once she noticed the small pout forming on Parker's face, "I thought you'd be happy that your sister and I got along so well."

"Yeah a little too well for my liking I think." Parker teased, "See this is why we study at your house. No interruptions."

Kacey's face scrunched up in disgust at the unspoken implication of what the other two girls would've been doing over at Brookes causing Brooke to laugh, "I don't know, I like your house better than mine." She stated with a shrug.

"Why?" Parker asked, clearly not feeling the same.

"Because there's always something going on over here." She explained, "Sisters barging into rooms. Littler sisters begging you to play games with her. Parents and grandparents always threatening to walk in at any moment. It's much more alive than my house." She shrugged again before continuing, "I'd be surprised if anyone at my house even noticed I was gone right now."

Parker offered her a sad smile, "Well in that case we can spend all the time you want here." She promised, "Although you will be forced to listen to my mom go on about the opened door policy in the house when you're here."

Brooke laughed, already having received the brief explanation of the rules of the McCuller's household alongside Parker, given to them by her parents, "Yeah I don't think your mom likes me all that much." Brooke suggested.

"Well you did hit me with a field hockey stick." Parker defended Paige's worries, "Not the greatest first impression."

"Okay that's not fully my fault." Brooke argued, "I wasn't going to hit you that hard but you ran into it going full speed."

"Yes because I was expecting you to assault me with a hockey stick." Parker retorted sarcastically.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Whatever, you're fine." She said, "I made it up to you."

Parker's smile widened instantly as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, "Yeah you did."

"Okay. Ew." Kacey interrupted.

"Sorry." Parker responded half-heartedly, "Forgot you were there." She teased.

Brooke laughed before standing up and grabbing her bag up off the ground from the side of Parker's bed, "I better get going."

"What you haven't even been here that long." Parker protested.

"We weren't getting much done anyways and since your sister's in here we aren't going to go back to what we were doing." Brooke said, earning a thankful look from Kacey, "Your sister was right anyway, you should be studying."

Parker groaned, falling back onto her back on the bed, "What's the point?" She said knowing she wasn't going to suddenly understand anything about chemistry overnight, "It's multiple choice I think I'm just going to wing it. How hard could it really be?"

"You're going to have to start studying a lot more if you want to keep up with those kids at Stanford." Brooke pointed out teasingly.

Kacey's eyes widened as she shot up, sitting up straight and looking over at Parker, "I'm sorry? Stanford?" She asked, "Since when is Stanford on the table?"

"Since I was basically promised a full ride there if I finish out the season good." Parker said, letting a wide smile take over her face.

"What!?" Kacey exclaimed, "Stanford has one of the best swim program out there right now. When did this happen?"

Parker laughed looking down to her lap as she shook her head, not believing it herself, "A couple days ago. You know that guy that was sitting in on practice?" Parker asked earning a nod from Kacey, "Well he's part of their program and he talked to me after practice. They have two spots left on their team and he said if I finish out the season doing as good as I am, one of the spots is mine if I want it."

"So mom knows?" Kacey asked, "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Parker nodded, "Mom knows, but I asked her not to say anything to anyone. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, especially when I knew something was up with you." Parker explained, "Plus I don't even know if I want to go there." Parker admitted, "I don't want to freak mama out for no reason. Stanford's far away from home."

Kacey nodded in understanding, "Yeah it is." She agreed quietly, "But wow. A full ride to Stanford."

"Crazy right." Parker said as she stood up from her bed, "But don't worry, I haven't made any decisions yet." Parker said ruffling Kacey's hair lovingly as she walked by her sister and towards Brooke, "Come on I'll walk you out." She offered as she passed the blonde who threw a smile and a wave back to Kacey who returned it.

The two of them walked downstairs to find Paige and Emily sitting on the couch in front of the tv, "Brooke's leaving." Parker announced, "I'm going to walk her to her car." She told her parents.

Emily and Paige both looked over the back of the couch, "Bye Brooke, it was nice to see you again." Emily offered, Paige nodding her head and forcing a matching smile.

"You too." Brooke returned politely, "Goodnight Mrs. McCullers." She said before being lead outside by Parker who walked her down to her car which was parked on the curb in front of her house. She quickly threw her bag in the backseat of her car before shutting the back door and turning to face Parker, leaning back against the driver's door.

Parker shoved her hands in her pockets as she bounced on her feet slowly, glancing around momentarily before she leaned in and kissed the blonde gently, pulling back shortly after. Parker smiled at Brooke, her eyes involuntarily dropping back down to Brooke's lips before moving up to her eyes again, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow." Brooke said, earning a smile and nod from Parker who pecked her lips once more before turning to head back into the house but Brooke grabbed Parker's wrist before she could, "Wait." Brooke sighed, regaining Parker's attention. Brooke took a deep breath, holding a finger up to Parker, signaling for her to wait a moment as she pulled the back door open again and retrieved a large envelope before shutting the door and returning to her previous position in front of Parker, "I wasn't going to say anything but…"

Parker looked at her curiously as Brooke held the envelope out to her, "What is it?" Parker asked as she took it.

"I know you love it here." The blonde said softly, "And I know you don't really want to be far away from home. But I think I might want to be." Brooke added warily, earning another odd look from Parker as the brunette's fingers dug into the envelope pulling out the small stack of papers.

Parker's eyes scanned over the papers as she flipped through them, "You got into Stanford?" Her eyes flashing up in surprise, receiving a nod of confirmation from the blonde in front of her, "I…" Parker paused as she shook her head, "I didn't know you even wanted to go there."

"I didn't really." Brooke admitted honestly, "I mean when I was applying I knew I didn't want to stay here but I didn't really have any preferences as to where I wanted to go. So umm," Brooke looked away from Parker a little embarrassed, "so I applied to a couple schools I knew you were applying to."

Parker stared at Brooke not sure how to wrap her head around what Brooke was saying. She opened her mouth to say something but it quickly closed as she looked back down at the acceptance letter in her hand, "What?" Parker finally asked running her hand over her face as she tried to piece everything together, "H-how did you even know where I would apply? We have literally never talked about this."

Brooke gave Parker an unimpressed look, "Really Parker, it's not that hard to figure out. I applied to 5 schools. All of which happen to fall under the top 5 swim programs in the country." Brooke huffed out.

Parker let her head fall back letting a heavy sigh fall from her lips, "Why?"

Brooke instantly frowned, pursing her lips as her eyes fell to the ground momentarily before she grabbed the papers out of Parker's hands, "You know what, forget about it." Brooke said stepping away from Parker and throwing the papers back in the car, "I shouldn't have even done that. It's weird. I don't even know why I did it in the first place." She huffed out in frustration as she went to open the car door to get in.

Parker reached over the blonde's shoulder, pushing her palm against the door to keep it closed, "Sounds like you want to go to college with me." Parker said as she grabbed Brooke's waist and turned the girl around to face her.

Brooke instantly noticed the smirk on Parker's face and the blonde shook her head, "Don't make it a joke Parker."

"I'm not." Parker promised as she brought her hand up to rest on the side of Brooke's neck, her thumb grazing her jaw, "I'm glad you did it." She said when she felt Brooke lean into her touch.

"Really?" Brooke asked unsure, having been nervous about the whole situation.

Parker simply nodded, leaning in to kiss the girl, "Wherever you want to go, I'm there." Parker whispered as she pulled back.

Brooke smiled although she shook her head softly, her nose brushing against Parkers, "You'd be stupid to follow me."

Parker stared at Brooke knowing the girl was probably right. But it wasn't that big of a deal, she wouldn't exactly be following if they had both applied to the same schools. She was going to go to one of them anyways, what did it matter if Brooke altered her decision a little bit. "Don't they say people in love do stupid things?"

Brooke pulled back a little bit, almost startled by the words, "You love me?" She asked timidly.

Parker stared at the girl in front of her as she swallowed hard, a little terrified to commit to the statement she had just made but as she looked into piercing blue eyes she felt herself nod, "Yeah I think I do." She confessed before continuing, "You don't have to love me back right now if you're not there. I mean I know it's a lot," She rambled, "but considering you were planning on following me to college you have to at least like me a little bit." She concluded, "Right?" She asked and Brooke couldn't help the giggle that slipped from her mouth at the hopefulness in Parker's voice.

Brooke leaned back against the car, pulling Parker with her as she connected their lips in a heated kiss, "I think I might love you too." Brooke shakily panted out in between kisses and she couldn't help but smile when she felt Parker's smile against her lips as the brunette brought her hands up to cup her face and deepen the kiss, moving impossibly closer to the girl.

"Parker!"

The two girls broke apart slightly, Parke letting her eyes drift behind Brooke to see Paige on the front porch gesturing for her to come in. Parker let her eyes wander back to Brooke's as she smiled and connected their lips again in a short kiss, "I better go before I get in trouble." She said, not letting go of the girl, their foreheads still resting against each other.

Brooke nodded, biting her lip, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Parker said, finally pulling away from the girl and opening the car door as Brooke slipped in. Parker shut the door gently and watched Brooke drive off before running up to the porch to meet her mom who was still standing there.

"Parker I know you guys are a thing but can you please keep it PG." Paige said as she shook her head at the wide smile on her daughter's face, "You two were giving the neighborhood quite the show and I'd rather you didn't."

Parker was so happy she didn't even have it in her to retort her mom's teasing, "Sorry mom." She said, wrapping her arms around Paige's neck unexpectedly and pulled her into a tight hug, "Won't happen again." She said practically squealing as she let go of Paige and entered the house.

Paige narrowed her eyes at the girl curiously as she ran into the house and planted a kiss on Emily's cheek from behind the couch, startling the older woman slightly before darting upstairs without a word. Emily looked over at Paige in confusion, "What's that about?" Emily asked as Paige locked the front door and made her way back to the couch.

"No idea." She said, dropping back down onto the couch, Emily immediately swinging her legs back over Paige's lap, "Probably happy because she was rounding second and headed to third out there." Paige huffed.

Emily held back a laugh at the disapproving look on her wife's face, "Relax babe, you're going to burn a hole through the tv with that glare."

"It's just…you're right they grew up so fast." Paige admitted, her hands mindlessly running over Emily's legs, "I remember chasing after those kids when they were still in diapers and now I'm sending one off to college and the second one's not too far behind her. Can you imagine this place with just Taylor in it?" Paige wondered as she frowned at Emily, "And Tay may have quite a while before she's off to college but she'll be gone too before we know it."

Emily gave her wife a sad smile, "Just this morning you were joking about not being able to wait to get rid of them." Emily pointed out as she pulled her legs from Paige's lap, swinging them down to the floor as she scooted closer to Paige, "We knew they were going to grow up and leave eventually." She said, bringing her hand up to gentle rub Paige's back.

Paige nodded, dropping her head into her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees, "I know, it just happened faster than I expected."

"We could always have another one." Emily teased with a smirk.

Paige pulled her head out of her hands to look at Emily, "In your dreams Fields." Paige responded with a shake of her head.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Emily teased as she nudged her elbow into Paige's side lightly. Paige squirmed away a little laughing, a distant voice calling out for Emily coming from upstairs stopping both of the adults as they looked upstairs.

"Well duty calls." Emily said smiling over at Paige, standing after kissing Paige on the cheek and moving upstairs towards Taylor's bedroom. Paige's eyes followed Emily up the stairs towards Taylor's room until the woman was out of sight. She sighed, her eyes moving away from the second floor and over to an old framed picture of their three kids that had been sitting in their living room for years.

As she sat in the middle of the living room alone, the house in complete silence, nothing but the soft murmur of the tv filling her ears she felt her eyes start to water slightly. She quickly took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes before any tears could fall. She wasn't sure if she was ready for her kids to leave yet but she was glad she had Emily by her side to face it. She had always been thankful to have Emily there to help her face everything. They had been together for so long at this point that she couldn't even remember a time she didn't have Emily by her side to help her through things, no matter how big or small. And she knew that she would never have to endure anything without Emily again and that was enough to settle the nerves in her stomach and make the distant thoughts of a quiet house without kids bearable.


	35. Chapter 35

**I know that took me forever and I really am so sorry for that but on top of a lot going on in my life the last few months, I just honestly had no idea how to wrap up this story. A lot of you wanted the other girls from the show in the story though so I did put them in this chapter and I'm not sure how it turned out but I really do hope you all like it.**

 **Also since I've been having so much trouble writing for this story this is the last chapter but I have been working on a much more Paily centric story and I think I'm going to be posting the first chapter to that soon and if people are still interested in Paily fanfic and you guys like it, I'll continue posting it. I already have the first few chapters written to it so the updates should be much much faster than the ones to this story were. Okay with all that being said I really do hope you all enjoy this chapter and I would like to thank all of you for being patient with me and for reading :)**

Paige managed to pull herself out of bed after the third time the alarm beside the bed went off. She dragged herself down the stairs, not bothering to change out of the sweats and tank top she slept in. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she found Emily already dressed for the day and moving around the kitchen with ease.

"Mornin." Paige said, voice still scratchy with sleep.

Emily turned around, not having heard her wife come downstairs, "Hey." She said softly with a smile as she watched Paige drop down into a chair at the kitchen table, slumping in her seat immediately making Emily giggle, "Tired?"

Paige let out a sigh as she crossed her arms on top of the table and dropped her head down into them, "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm getting old and I can't pull all-nighters anymore." She mumbled out.

Emily just shook her head, a smile still grazing her lips, "I told you not to stay up with the girls all night." She said, "You should've went to bed when me and Taylor did."

Paige lifted her head up to playfully glare at her wife, "Well one of us has to be the cool parent."

Emily mocked offense, "Hey, I'm plenty cool." She stated, pointing the spatula she was cooking with at Paige.

"Come on Em, we all know that I'm the fun parent." Paige argued, sitting up a little straighter, "Are you really going to try to argue this?" She asked with a smirk on her face as she noticed the pout on Emily's.

"What makes you the fun one?" She asked, setting the spatula down on the counter behind her before turning back towards Paige and crossing her arms across her chest.

Paige pushed herself up out of her chair and made her way across the kitchen towards Emily, resting her hands on the other woman's hips when she reached her, "Really, you have a leg up on me on literally every other mom category." The brunette pointed out with a raised eyebrow, "You're honestly going to take being the fun one away from me too? It's all I've got."

"That's not true." Emily argued.

Paige nodded her head in protest, "You're the one they want when they're sick or when they're hurt. You're easily the better cook. Whenever they need anything, you're always the first one they come to Emily and you know it." Paige said, a reassuring smile on her face, "I would confidently say that I fill the dad role." She said with a chuckle, "I'm here for when they break something in the house and are scared to tell you. Or when they miss curfew and they need someone to calm you down because of it. The one who they ask to rough house with or expect to throw them into the pool when they aren't paying attention. I'm the one who stays up until 4 a.m. playing videogames while you go to bed with Taylor at 8:30 p.m."

Emily pondered over what Paige just listed out for a moment, a hand coming up to wrap lightly around the side of Paige's neck, "Fine." She said, not being able to keep a smile off her face, "You're the fun one." She said, leaning forward to peck Paige's lips, "But you're more than that. You're a great mom Paige."

Paige smiled widely, "So are you babe."

Emily leaned back in and kissed Paige a little more passionately. Paige didn't protest, pulling her wife in closer to her, only breaking apart when Emily started to smell something burning. She quickly pushed Paige off of her lightly and rushed to turn the stove off next to her.

Emily turned back around and pushed Paige back towards the kitchen table, "Go sit back down."

"What why?" Paige asked teasingly, as she grabbed Emily's wrist, not letting her wife push her out of the kitchen.

"You're distracting." Emily said simply.

Paige smirked proudly as she let go of Emily's wrist, instead wrapping her arms around Emily's' waist once she turned back towards the stove, "Yeah? You used to like when we got distracted."

Emily giggled as Paige pulled her hair over one of her shoulders so she could kiss down her neck, Emily not even bothering to try to get out of Paige's grip, "And I still do." Emily stated, "But I have things to do. We have people coming over today."

Paige stopped kissing her way down Emily's neck and groaned, dropping her head into the crook of Emily's shoulder, "Didn't your friends stop us from getting it on enough already?"

Emily burst out laughing, not being able to hold it in, "Getting it on?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder at her wife, "What makes you think you were going to get that lucky anyway?" She challenged.

"Don't hurt my ego this early Em." Paige teased, dropping one last kiss to her wife's cheek before letting her go and making her way over to the coffee maker.

Emily shook her head, emptying the burnt content in the pan in the trash before putting the pan back on the stove, "Maybe if you're on your best behavior this weekend I'll make it up to you." She said, throwing a wink over her shoulder at Paige.

"You don't have to tell me twice." She said pleased as she poured herself a cup of coffee and made her way back to the kitchen table, "Although I imagine it isn't easy to stay completely out of trouble when all of your friends and their kids are coming."

"That's fair." She said with a nod, knowing how much trouble her best friends can be when they're all together. "Just keep whatever trouble you guys get into reasonable. No jail time. No broken bones. Think you can handle that?"

Paige nodded, taking a sip of her coffee before setting it down, "That I think I can manage." She said with a confident smile.

"Good." Emily said, "I can't believe Parker's getting so close to leaving already." She said with a sigh as she continued to move around the kitchen absentmindedly.

"Yeah summer flew by pretty fast didn't it?" Paige agreed, "But she'll be fine."

"California's all the way on the other side of the country Paige." Emily said, still not exactly happy at the fact that Parker was going to college so far away.

Paige let out a small laugh at the clear displeasure on her wife's face, "Oh come on Em, you've had plenty of time to accept the fact that she chose Stanford." She stated, "Plus Morgan will be there with her."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow, "From what I heard and remember those two together are nothing but trouble."

"Well what do you expect to happen when you put a McCullers and a Hastings together?" Paige asked with a shrug as she let out a small laugh.

Emily rolled her eyes but couldn't keep a smile off of her face, "What a terrifying combo." She teased playfully.

"Don't worry, if they manage to get into any trouble at least Aria only lives a couple hours away, she can check in with them if we need her too." Paige offered for reassurance as she left her seat at the table again, coming up behind Emily and kissing her cheek.

Emily nodded, "Yeah I guess you're right." She sighed as Paige moved back to the kitchen table once again, "Do you know what time they're supposed to get here anyway?" She asked as she leaned against the counter.

Paige glanced over at the clock, "Spencer and the kids got in late last night so they can come over at any time, I'm assuming they'll be here fairly early. Hanna's plane lands just before noon and Aria said she was dropping by her parents before coming over but she might catch a ride over with Hanna." Paige guessed.

Emily nodded along as she listened to Paige before a car horn from outside interrupted and Parker came flying down the stairs at full speed without any warning moments later, "I got it!" Parker called out as she ran by her parents in a blur and out the front door.

"Morgan's here." Paige stated confidently, a small smirk on her face as she pushed herself up out of her chair and walked towards the front door.

"It's 8 a.m." Emily stated in surprise, not having expected anyone to be over anywhere near this early.

"They can't help themselves." Paige said with a shrug as she leaned against the frame of the opened front door, gesturing out to the two girls in the front yard.

Emily let out a small chuckle as she reached Paige, catching a look at her daughter. Parker's legs wrapped firmly around the waist of another girl who looked an awfully lot like Spencer did in high school as the other girl supported her for a few moments before dropping her back down to the ground. She was so distracted by the two girl's she hardly noticed Spencer walking towards them until she was already standing right in front of them.

"Usually I can handle mornings but this," She said gesturing over to Parker and Morgan briefly, "this is too much before coffee."

"There's a fresh pot in the kitchen." Paige said with a laugh.

"Life saver." Spencer sighed out in relief, "Hey Em." She said giving Emily a quick hug before moving past her and into the house.

"Hey Aunt Paige." Morgan said as her and Parker finally made their way to the front door.

"Hey squirt." Paige said ruffling the hair on the teens head.

Morgan rolled her eyes as she attempted to lean away from her aunt's hand, "I thought we discussed how I'm not a squirt anymore."

Parker laughed, "Yeah good luck getting her to understand that." She said pushing past her parents and deeper into the house to join Spencer in the kitchen.

Morgan shook her head, a small smile on her face as she gave Paige a quick hug before turning her attention to Emily, "Hey Aunt Em, remember me?" She asked, not bothering to wait for an answer as she hugged Emily.

Emily hugged the girl back for a moment before pulling away slightly, resting her hands on the young girl's shoulders as her eyes scanned over her face with a small smile, "Of course I remember you." She said, "How could I forget?"

By this time Emily was having a much easier time remembering things from before the accident. Of course she was sure to do her studying before her friends and their kids arrived for the weekend to make sure she didn't miss anything. Paige flipping through pictures and small briefings of the backgrounds of each of her friend's kids verifying everything Emily could remember and filling in the minor blanks that she still had.

Morgan smiled brightly up at Emily, "I always knew I was your favorite." She stated smugly as Emily let her hands fall from her shoulders and turned to follow Parker into the house.

Paige smiled as Emily's eyes followed the girl until she was deep enough in the house to be out of sight, "See told you there was no need to be nervous."

Emily nodded a little relieved as Paige swung her arm over Emily's shoulders and pulled her into her body lightly, "Yeah." She sighed out contently.

"Come on, let's go catch up." Paige said, pulling Emily along with her towards the kitchen, finding Spencer sitting at the table, Taylor planted happily on her lap, still sporting her pajamas.

"Look who's up." Emily said, gaining the attention of Spencer and Taylor.

"Where'd the other girls go?" Paige asked, joining Spencer at the table.

"Went upstairs to get Kacey." Spencer said, "I briefly heard something about sitting by the pool. Which is completely shocking," Spencer stated sarcastically, "who would've ever thought that when you two had babies they'd practically live in the water?"

"I know completely shocking," Paige said without missing a beat, "just as shocking as your kid being smarter than everyone here. It's almost like they took after their parents."

Emily laughed, "Morgan was beating Paige at scrabble by the time she was four."

Paige looked over at Emily offended, "Excuse you, scrabble is not a true marker of intelligence."

"It's still embarrassing to be beat by a four year old." Spencer said with a shrug, a massive grin on her face, Taylor giggling in her lap.

Paige rolled her eyes, "Always so smug Hastings."

Spencer's grin only got bigger, "I'm not sorry that my kid's a genius."

"Don't forget I'm your kid's favorite aunt." Paige said as she leaned back against the counter.

"And it still pains me to this day that I didn't teach her to have better judgment than that." Spencer teased lightheartedly, earning a laugh from everyone in the room, "Don't forget that I'm Parker's."

"Who would've thought the McCullers and Hastings families would learn to love each other." Paige said, "Truly disappointing."

"Alright, enough you two." Emily said just as Parker, Morgan, and Kacey came rushing down the stairs and through the kitchen, "Slow down." Emily said as they slid the door to the backyard open and rushed out towards the pool, basically ignoring Emily's words.

"I'm so glad they become such good listeners when they get together." Spencer said rolling her eyes at their kids, standing up and setting Taylor on the ground so she could go outside with the other girls, "So when are we allowed to start drinking?"

"Now you're talking." Emily said, letting out a small laugh, "Drinks by the pool is exactly what I need."

Everyone went to change into something appropriate for the pool before coming back down and getting the drinks rolling and making their way outside to wait for the others to arrive at the house. Morgan, Parker, and Kacey were all sitting in the lounge chairs on the side of the pool while Taylor was already splashing around in the pool.

"So Jake is going to be here soon." Morgan said referring to Hanna's oldest son, her eyebrows moving up and down suggestively, "Excited."

Kacey looked over at Morgan oddly, "I guess." She said unsure as to why her sister and Morgan were looking at her like that, "I haven't seen him in a while and he's cool."

"Rumor is he has himself a little crush on someone." Parker said teasingly.

"What?" Kacey asked casually, dismissing the statement altogether, "That's ridiculous. He does not have a crush on me. Why do you guys always have to be trying to get in other people's business?" She asked a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

"What else would we do with ourselves?" Morgan asked without missing a beat.

Parker nodded in agreeance, "Yeah, what's the fun in family gatherings if you can't meddle into everyone else's business? You seemed to be fine with meddling a few minutes ago."

"Yeah well that's because it wasn't my business we were meddling into." Kacey stated, before shaking her head, "It doesn't matter anyways, I'm not interested in Jake like that." She made perfectly clear, "Plus aren't you the one who's been trying to chase boys away from me?" She directed at Parker.

"Yes, and I stand by that." Parker stated, "But this is Jake we're talking about." The brunette said with a shrug, earning an agreeing nod from Morgan, "He's like the model of the perfect boy for my baby sister." She cooed, reaching out to pinch Kacey's cheek.

Kacey swatted her hand away, "Whatever. Like I said, I'm not interested."

"That's because you haven't seen him in a few months." Morgan offered, "Trust me, that boy has grown up quite nicely." She said dramatically, "Little Jakey is not so little anymore. Dude clearly hits the gym."

"Even I can respect a good looking guy when I see one." Parker offered, "And Jake is one."

"What are we talking about?" Paige asked as she came up behind the girls, startling all three of them a little bit.

"Nothing." Kacey answered immediately, before standing up off the lounge chair quickly, "I'm going to go get something to drink." She said awkwardly as she made her way to the kitchen earning a curious gaze rom Paige.

"Alright what did you two do?" Paige asked knowingly as her eyes moved between the two girls in front of her.

"What? Us?" Morgan asked, hand on her chest, "Oh nothing, just waiting for everyone to get here." She said, a small smile on her face as she dropped her sunglasses from the top of her head to rest on her nose, leaning back on the lounge chair casually.

Paige raised her eyebrow at Parker who simply laughed at Morgan before shrugging at her mom and leaning back in her own chair. Paige shook her head, "Yeah your mother is definitely right, I should be concerned about you two going off to college together." She said as she got up, earning giggles from the two young girls before Paige walked towards Emily and Spencer who were standing in the shallow end of the pool, right against the edge.

Paige sat on the edge of the pool in front of them, letting her feet sink into the water, "Your kids are up to no good."

Emily and Spencer glanced over at Morgan and Parker at the same time, the two girls leaning towards each other talking and giggling, "Well I can't say I'm surprised." Spencer said as she turned her attention back to Paige, "What are they doing?"

Paige shook her head as she stared intently at the two girls, "I don't know yet," She said Emily rolling her eyes at that as Spencer listened closely, "but they're up to something."

Emily looked between her wife and friend as they kept an eye on the two girls across the yard, "You two are ridiculous."

"Umm excuse you." Spencer said, shooting Emily an offended look, "I thought you got most of your memory back Em. But clearly that is not the case if those two being up to something doesn't make you a little nervous." She stated pausing to take a sip of her drink, "Hell those two even just being in the same room together scares me a little."

"Definitely." Paige nodded in agreeance, "They're worse than the two of us." Paige said gesturing quickly between Spencer and herself, "And we're bad."

Emily scoffed, "The only thing you two are when you're together is annoying."

"First of all, offensive." Paige responded with a straight face, "Second, we're a good time together."

"You don't know the half of it." Spencer said, causing Emily to raise an eyebrow in curiosity but before she could ask Spencer to elaborate the sliding glass door that led outside was torn open.

"Life of the party has officially arrived." Hanna stated loudly, "And Aria too." She added walking out into the backyard, earning whoops from Parker and Morgan as they got up to greet her.

"Hey!" Parker said as Hanna pulled her into a hug, releasing her only to immediately embrace Morgan.

"I left something for you two in the car out front." Hanna said quietly as she let go of Morgan, "It's on the floor in the backseat. Paisley is already out by the car helping Aria with some groceries we got for dinner tonight." She said, sending a wink to the girls before they slipped past her excitedly.

"Aunt Hanna!" Hanna looked over to see Emily wrapping Taylor in a towel before releasing her and the little girl racing towards the blonde woman, launching herself into Hanna's arms when she reached her.

Hanna laughed as she picked Taylor up, dropping a messy kiss to the girls cheek, "Hey princess, miss me?" Taylor nodded excitedly as she pulled back just enough to see Hanna's face, "Luke is inside." She said, referring to her son that was the same age as Taylor, as she set the girl back down on the ground, "And don't tell your moms but there's some candy in my purse for you. It's on the counter." She said, barely getting the sentence out before Taylor ran off into the house.

"Hey Han." Emily said, gaining Hanna's attention, "You better be behaving yourself with my kids." She warned playfully.

Hanna put her hands up in defense, an innocent smile on her face, "Wouldn't dream of doing anything you wouldn't approve of."

"Why do I not believe that?" Emily said knowing her best friend, "You're always up to something."

"How is it possible that I'm the only one who ended up without any girls?" Hanna pouted as she turned her head to look back inside the house where Taylor was already jumping down from the counter and running to find Hanna's youngest son Luke before turning back to Emily who just laughed.

"You have two beautiful boys." Emily offered, "You don't need any girls."

Hanna let out a puff of air in disagreement, "The only reason I had a second one was because I was trying for a girl." The blonde said with anther pout, "I don't care how much I love those boys, it doesn't change the fact that neither of them want to go shopping with me or care about clothing designs or what's in." She complained.

"And I'm pretty sure your husband is very happy about that." Paige said from behind Emily, gaining laughs from everyone.

"Plus you spoil all of our girls enough to make up for your lack of daughters." Spencer threw in.

"Which brings me back around to worrying about what you brought the girls that made them rush off so fast." Emily said as she eyed Hanna.

"Nothing illegal." Hanna stated, leaving it at that as she wandered deeper into the backyard, dropping herself in one of the lounge chairs, "Just a few things I thought they could use for college. Think of it as a care package."

"I'm worried about this apparent care package as well." Aria said as she slipped out into the backyard being greeted with smiles, "Not only the fact that I know what Hanna was like in college but also the fact that I wasn't allowed to look at them concerns me greatly."

"Well as long as it's not illegal." Spencer said, counting it as a win, "I'm getting a refill." She stated as she climbed out of the pool, holding up her empty wine glass, "Want a drink?" She asked Hanna and Aria as she passed them, earning an eager nod from both women.

Spencer laughed and headed inside, immediately being met with Hanna's oldest son Jake, "Hey Aunt Spence." He said with a smile.

"Wow you're getting tall." She said in surprise as she walked deeper into the kitchen and pulled Jake into a hug, "Everyone's hanging out by the pool if you want to go out there." She said as she released him and gestured to the backyard.

He nodded and made his way outside just as Kacey came down the stairs, "Hey aunt Spence, do you know where Morgan and Parker went?"

"Umm yeah Aria and Hanna got here. They went to grab some things out of Hanna's car with Paisley, they should be right back." Spencer said a she fixed her drink.

Kacey nodded before glancing out back, "Whoa."

Spencer turned her head to see what Kacey was looking at only to find her eyes fixed on Jake who was greeting Emily and Paige outside, "Oh no." Spencer said with a smile, gaining Kacey's attention, "Got your eye on something there?"

"What? No, of course not." Kacey said a little rushed, Spencer simply nodding with a smug grin as she grabbed her drink and headed toward the backyard.

"Mhm. Why don't you come say hi?" Spencer said with a wink as she passed Kacey.

"Um yeah sure, I'll be out there in a second." Kacey said before Spencer nodded and slipped back out into the backyard.

Just as Spencer walked out Parker, Paisley, and Morgan came back into the house holding a few bags, "Hey Kace, check it out, this one's for you." Parker said, holding out a bag with Kacey's name printed sloppily on the side.

Kacey took it, "What is it?"

"Aunt Hanna brought it for us." Paisley said, "I'm guessing it's stuff she had left over from work. It's just a bunch of clothes."

"And look what she got us." Morgan said giddy with excitement as she looked over Kacey's shoulders to make sure all the parents were still outside, "don't tell anyone but check it out." She said as she slipped three cards out of her pocket and flashed them towards Kacey.

"What are those?" Kacey asked confused, grabbing onto them to look closer.

"It's a fake i.d." Parker said, a snort of laughter escaping her lips, "Can you believe it? Man Aunt Hanna's the best."

"If you guys get caught with those things moms, Aunt Aria, and Aunt Spence are going to kill both of you." Kacey said with a shake of her head, "And Aunt Han."

"Oh don't be such a good girl." Morgan said, "It's all about the thrill Kace."

Kacey just laughed, "Yeah until you get caught."

"Whatever, let us have our fun." Parker said with a laugh.

"Don't worry Kace, I'll keep them under control." Paisley promised, earning boos from the other two girls.

"We're gonna run this stuff upstairs real quick and then we'll be right back down." Parker said, making a move to go upstairs but stopped at the edge of the stairs when Morgan stopped her.

"Wait a minute, why aren't you outside?" Morgan asked Kacey.

"Oh I was just about to go out, I was just waiting for you guys." Kacey said, glancing outside real quick before looking down.

Morgan looked at her curiously before a grin grew on her face, "You wouldn't be avoiding…I don't know, a very handsome young man?"

Parker's eyebrows went up at that, "Oh no way, you think he's cute don't you?" She asked with a laugh.

Kacey involuntarily blushed, "No, I was just waiting for you guys. Which I now regret, so if you'd excuse me." She said turning around and headed towards the back door.

"Go get 'em tiger!" Paisley called out before rushing up the stairs with Parker and Morgan.

Kacey let out an annoyed huff as she walked outside, earning a quick glance from everyone before they went back to what they were previously doing. However Spencer's eyes followed the girl as she made her way over to Jake.

Spencer nudged Hanna lightly, gesturing over to the pair of teens with her head, "I think we may have the beginning of young love occurring over there."

Hanna gasped quietly turning to grab Emily's arm in excitement, "Could you imagine if our kids married each other." She squealed.

"I think that's a little premature Han." Aria commented with a soft giggle.

"How did that even happen, he hasn't even been here for an hour." Paige said, sipping her drink, eyes slightly narrowed at Jake.

"That's all us," Parker said coming up behind the group of women along with Morgan and Paisley, "we're mastermind matchmakers now."

"I told you they were up to something." Paige whispered, nudging Emily.

"Go on." Spencer urged.

"Well I told Jake that Kacey had a crush on him." Paisley admitted.

"And we told Kacey that Jakey had a crush on her." Morgan added, "It's all about planting the seed."

"Yeah it gives them confidence if they both think the other one already likes them." Paisley said with a shrug, "It makes the whole process a ton faster."

"And we're pushing them together why?" Paige asked curiously.

"Because they look so cute together." Hanna gushed, earning laughs from the group.

In that moment Jake and Kacey both turned their heads to find nearly the entire group of people in the backyard looking at them. Kacey blushed and looked down at her feet while Jake chuckled and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.

The rest of the day mostly consisted of hanging out by the pool, everybody catching up and having a good time. The day quickly turned into night, Paige and Spencer firing up the grill to get dinner started as everyone sat around. Eventually the conversation had turned to Parker, Morgan, and Paisley going off to college together and it didn't take long before Hanna got up to her typical antics.

"Hanna don't encourage them." Spencer said from across the yard, having overheard parts of the conversation.

"What? I'm not." Hanna shouted over her shoulder defensively before turning back to the three girls in front of her, slyly handing Morgan the small slip of paper, "Whip all this stuff up in a smoothie and drink it when you wake up, hangover gone. Saved my life a hundred times. Nothing is worse than having to go to a class with a hangover, classes are already torturous enough without the hangover." The blonde groaned out, recalling some of her own college experiences.

"Or they could just not drink." Aria offered as she slipped past Hanna and the girls, giving her daughter a look so she knew she was talking to her.

Hanna rolled her eyes, "What's the point of going off to college if you aren't going to have any fun."

"Umm, an education." Aria retorted.

"I mean I guess if that's what you're into." Hanna said with a shrug, "But don't let any of your parents tell you that they didn't do it." She said looking between the three oldest girls here and then continued as she saw a few of the other kids gather around the small table that sat on the back patio where they were all seated, "I've seen every single one of your moms drunk off their asses on more than one occasion."

"Hanna!" Emily scolded as she glanced towards the two youngest kids only a few feet away from the group.

"Sorry." Hanna murmured out as she put her hands up in defense.

"Please go on about these…occasions." Parker encouraged as she went over and stood behind Hanna, resting her arms on the back seat of the older woman's chair simply waiting for her to go on.

"Well-" Hanna started with a smug smile but was immediately cut off by Emily.

"Let's not do this Hanna." She stated, giving Hanna a look as she crossed her arms.

A chorus of protests immediately followed from the older kids, "Come on Aunt Em how bad could it be?" Jake asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, it can't be that bad." Paisley added.

"Scared it'll give us some ideas." Morgan teased, looking at her aunt with a smirk before walking over and getting close to Hanna in anticipation for a possible wild story.

Emily looked around. All of their kids huddled around Hanna, with the exception of Taylor and Luke who had no interest in the matter. She looked over at Spencer, Paige, and Aria who were gathered around the grill for help but none offered any. Emily sighed in defeat, "Fine, you're going to do whatever you want anyway." Emily mumbled out as she dropped herself down in a chair.

"Thank you for understanding that Em." Hanna offered, a hint of glee in her voice, "So where shall we began?" She asked no one in particular as she looked between her four friends, the kids waiting with anticipation, "Any volunteers?"

Spencer rolled her eyes, "Just get on with it Han."

Hanna lifted an eyebrow, smirking at Spencer, "What about that time you two got drunk and ended up getting arrested?" Hanna asked with a smug look on her face.

Paige immediately reached over and smacked Spencer on the chest, "Way to go." She exclaimed, "You just volunteered us."

Spencer looked at Paige apologetically with a shrug, "I didn't know she was going to tell that story." She said in a hushed tone to the other brunette.

"You got arrested?" Emily asked with wide eyes as she leaned forward in her chair.

"That…that was not my fault." Paige said in defense as she looked over at Emily before throwing an accusatory finger in Spencer's direction, "That was all Hastings."

"Hey!?" Spencer exclaimed in offense, her voice loud this time, "I was defending you. Plus let's not forget why we were out drinking in the first place."

"You swung at a cop." Paige argued, forgetting they had an audience, "He didn't like that. If you wouldn't have done that there wouldn't have been any problems."

Spencer paused a moment to think about it, Hanna jumping in before she could get a word out, "Hey I'm the one telling the stories here." She said, "You both got thrown into the back of that cop car because you were drunk off your asses."

Emily's jaw slacked a little in surprise, "Okay, I'm sorry when did this happen and why does everyone but me seem to know about it?" Emily asked from her spot on the couch.

"It was that week you and Paige broke up." Aria answered, "Hanna convinced everyone to go out to this bar. You were still back home visiting your parents."

"God I couldn't take Paige's moping around anymore." Hanna groaned out as she recalled the night, "And on top of that Spencer was freaking out about some job interview she had. I was just trying to get everyone to loosen up a bit."

"And loosen up they did." Aria added with a chuckle.

A few of the kids let out laughs at that, "Oh wow, we haven't even gotten through the first story and this is already the best thing that has ever happened to me." Parker said, not being able to contain herself.

"Hey don't be getting any ideas." Emily said, pointing a stern finger at the oldest girl.

Spencer nodded, "Yes, listen to her. Learn from our mistakes."

"I think trying to fight a cop is a mistake that everyone already knows not to make." Hanna stated, "I mean even I haven't done that."

Spencer rolled her eyes, "You know what, you guys want to call us out, but what about that time we left you and Emily alone for 10 minutes and we came back to find you two dancing on the bar full on Coyote Ugly style." Spencer threw out there.

"That was spring break." Hanna argued, "Everyone has a spring break story."

"Also you can't say anything about that because if I recall correctly Paige didn't mind it at all." Emily said throwing a wink in her wife's direction.

"Really McCullers?" Spencer said, "Keep it in your pants."

"I was a sophomore in college, what do you want from me?" Paige asked, "It's not like any of us had much self-control in that department. Don't forget we were roommates. I walked in on you and your boyfriend more than I cared to. I was seeing your naked body almost as much as my girlfriends back then."

"Okay waaaayy to much information on that one." Morgan said in displeasure, regaining the attention of the adults around them.

"Yeah seriously." Kacey agreed, her face clearly showing disgusts.

"Sorry forgot you guys were there." Paige said apologetically, the rest of the adults agreeing, doing their best to reign themselves in a little and not get caught up in stories from the past.

"What about that time Aria got drunk and passed out in the front yard with no pants on?" Hanna said with an obnoxious laugh, ignoring any protests from parents or kids, earning her scowls from the adults.

"Hanna!" Aria exclaimed in surprise, eyes wide, "I thought we all agreed to forget about that."

"Aunt Aria?" Parker asked with a wide smile on her face not believing it.

When Aria simply shook her head a chorus of laughs rung out, "I expect this from the others but you Aunt Aria, I expect much better." Kacey teased.

"Where were your pants mom?" Paisley asked curiously.

"We never found them." Aria grumbled a little embarrassed as her friends around her burst out laughing at the memories.

"Alright, enough of the stories everyone." Emily said with a chuckle as she pushed herself up and out of the chair.

"Oh come on," Morgan immediately protested, "we barely got anything."

"You got more than you ever needed to know about any of us." Aria said truthfully, earning laughs.

"Em is right, dinner is about done." Spencer said moving the food on the grill around, "so everyone head in and wash up then grab a plate."

They all sat outside, enjoying the summer night as they ate. Finishing the night off around a small fire, people slowly fading out as it got later into the night. Eventually everyone had either fallen asleep in the house or had gone home for the night.

The next few days flew by as all the families enjoyed each other's company and it was finally the night before the three girls were officially leaving for college. It was already well into the night at the McCullers household when Parker gathered everyone around in the living room.

"I know I'm leaving tomorrow but I have one last surprise before I go." Parker announced, "I know that me not being here every day is going to tear each and everyone one of your hearts apart," she said dramatically, "so I decided to get something for the family to fill the void."

Emily raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Paige before looking back at Parker, she wasn't really sure where this was going but she was feeling pretty confident that she wasn't going to like it, "Yeah? And what would that be?"

"Well I'm not just going to blurt it out mama, it's a surprise." Parker said, "Taylor would you do us the honors of leading us to your room. It's in there."

Taylor happily accepted and jumped down from the couch, racing up the stairs, the rest of the family trailing behind her. Emily trailed the group but sped up her steps when she heard Taylor exclaim excitedly, "It's a puppy!"

Emily got to Taylor's door to find her youngest daughter leaned over a puppy, tail wagging as fast as it could go as it scurried around Taylor and Kacey who were on the floor in front of it. Emily whipped her head back towards Parker who was leaning against the door frame, wide smile on her face, "Cute right?" She asked as she caught Emily's eye, clearly pleased with herself.

"Parker please tell me this is a joke." Emily said, still a little surprised.

"I thought we could name him P.J., you know for Parker Jr." Parker suggested, a proud smile planted on her face as she stared down at the puppy, who had made its way into Kacey's arms.

"We are not calling him that." Kacey refused immediately as Taylor started to yell out suggestions of her own for the dog's name.

"Okay, hold on." Emily jumped in, hands in the air to gesture for everyone to stop, "Just everyone wait a minute. We aren't naming him because there is no way we're keeping him."

A chorus of 'what' and 'why not's' filled the bedroom without hesitation. Emily put her hands on her hips, doing her best to keep a stern look on her face, "Because you guys are a hand full enough. We don't need a dog." She argued, "We'd have to train him on top of a million other things and you all are about to go back to school which means I would be the one taking care of him, so no. No dog."

"But mama." Taylor whined, a perfected pout forming on her face as her shoulders drooped.

"Please." Kacey begged right behind her, "We'll help. We promise."

Emily looked between the two girls on the floor with the dog before moving to look up at Parker who had a matching pout on her own face. Emily shook her head as she looked down at her feet for a moment before lifting her head to look at Paige for help but she knew she was in trouble when she found the dog in Paige's arms.

"Paige." Emily said softly.

"Oh come on Em." Paige said as she scratched the dog's head, "He's so cute." She said holding the dog out in Emily's direction, gesturing for him to take him.

Emily was reluctant but took the dog into her arms anyway. The dog craned its neck to lick at Emily's face which caused the woman to smile. Emily let out a heavy sigh as she took her attention off the dog and scanned the room again, four pleading faces aimed at her, "Ugh, I can't believe I'm agreeing to this." She said, frowns instantly turning to wide smiles, "Fine. We can keep him."

A small chorus of cheers came from the group surrounding Emily and she couldn't help but smile, leaning down to gently set the new addition to the family on the floor. The dog happily trotted back towards Parker, Kacey, and Taylor who were all now sitting on the floor. Emily watching them with a smile, turning her attention to the person next to her when she felt her wife's arm slip around her waist.

"I can't believe I said yes to this." Emily said as she shook her head.

Paige smirked down at her wife, dropping a kiss to the side of her head, "Oh come on Em, we all know you're going to fall in love with that dog faster than anyone."

"Am not." Emily protested in a bit of a whine causing Paige to laugh.

"You get attached to things very quickly." Paige said, "Remember that stray cat that used to always come and hang out outside of our apartment door?"

Emily's face immediately turned into a pout, "Oliver." She said fondly as she leaned into Paige.

"You cried for a week when he stopped showing up." Paige said with a chuckle.

"I loved him." Emily defended herself sadly.

"We had only lived in that building for 2 weeks before he disappeared." Paige countered, with a knowing smirk, "Would you say you got attached to him very quickly?"

"Whatever." Emily said as she pushed Paige away from her lightly, "Why do you always have to prove a point with everything." She said with a tinge of annoyance but the small smile on her face let Paige know that she was just teasing, "And why did you have to bring up Oliver? Now I miss him again."

Paige laughed, "He wasn't even our cat."

"He could've been if you would've let me bring him into the house like I wanted to." Emily argued.

"Again, wasn't our cat." Paige offered.

Emily just shook her head, "Well you didn't seem to have any problems letting the puppy into our house."

Paige rolled her eyes, "That's different. Aria got the dog from a store, hence he belongs to us. He's not someone else's cat that's lingering around our front door because you fed him when we were moving in."

Emily raised an eyebrow at Paige, narrowing her eyes, "I'm sorry? Aria got the dog?" She asked immediately earning a slightly frantic look from Paige, "You were totally in on this!" Emily accused, shoving her wife lightly, her eyes widened and jaw slacked in surprise.

Paige thought about trying to lie her way out of it but sighed knowing that she had slipped up and been caught so she looked fondly over at the puppy before meeting Emily's eyes, "Parker suggested it and at first I said no," Paige explained, "but then she convinced Aria to go look at puppies with her and they were sending me pictures and I crumbled Em."

"You have no backbone." Emily stated with a shake of her head.

Paige's face morphed into offence, "Rude."

Emily simply laughed, "How can you still not say no to them?" She asked, "Parker and Kacey aren't even that cute anymore. The only one who should be getting away with anything these days is Taylor."

Paige sighed, "I've just learned to embrace the fact that I'm wrapped around their fingers. I think it's in the eyes. Parker and Kacey may be older but damn Em they can really nail that sad eye, cute pout face." Paige explained, "You still get away with using it to, don't try to pretend they didn't learn that stuff from you."

Emily simply let out another laugh as she shrugged, "My pouty face is the best though right?" She teased.

"Brings me to my knees." Paige responded with a small smile, pecking Emily on the lips briefly.

"Alright it's getting late girls," Emily said, getting everyone's attention, "I want everyone up and getting ready for bed. We have an early morning tomorrow."

It didn't take long for all the girls to rally and get themselves showered and ready for bed. Emily said her quick goodnights to them after her own shower while Paige was downstairs cleaning up a little bit. When Emily was done she went downstairs to let Paige know the girls were going to sleep. Paige slowly made her way through the girl's rooms saying her goodnights before returning downstairs.

"Already attached I see." Paige said smugly as she came around the back of the couch and sat down next to Emily, who had the new puppy sleeping on her lap. Emily didn't bother to satisfy Paige with a comment, simply glaring at her before gently moving the dog off her lap and onto the other side of the couch.

"Ready for bed?" Emily asked.

Paige sighed heavily, "Yeah, I'm exhausted. It's nice having everyone around but they suck all the life out of me." She commented, "In the best way possible though." She added with a shrug.

Emily laughed lightly and shook her head, "You're so dramatic." She said as she leaned into Paige's side out of habit, "Can you believe three of the kids are going off to college in a few days and two more are going next year."

"I know, it really did happen so fast didn't it?" Paige said.

Emily nodded as she felt Paige press a light kiss to the side of her head before her wife stood up, offering Emily a hand to pull her up when she did. They both split the duties of locking up the house and shutting off the lights downstairs before walking up to their bedroom together to turn in for the night. Emily entered the room first only to find Taylor sprawled out across their bed.

"What are you doing in here?" Emily asked with a soft smile as she approached Taylor.

Taylor sat up a little as Emily sat on the edge of the bed, "Wanna sleep in here." Taylor responded groggily as she leaned into Emily's side.

Emily put her arm around the young girl as she looked over to Paige who was standing in the doorway for permission. Paige shrugged and gave Emily a short nod as she made her way towards the bathroom to wash up.

"You can stay in here for tonight but tomorrow you have to sleep in your own bed okay?" Emily said as she stood up, earning a nod from Taylor.

Emily settled Taylor back in before slipping into the bed herself with Taylor. Just as Emily had herself settled in bed Parker appeared in the doorway of the bedroom.

"Hey, you need something?" Emily asked in a hushed tone, trying not to disturb an already sleeping Taylor.

Parker shrugged as she shuffled towards the bed, "Couldn't sleep." She offered weakly.

Emily frowned at her before glancing down at Taylor and sighing as she scooted the little girl and herself over and lifting the covers as a silent invitation for Parker to slip into the bed as well. Parker wasted no time climbing into the bed next to her mom and sighing contently as she pulled the covers up over her.

"You okay?" Emily asked a little worriedly.

Parker shrugged as she looked at her mom, "I'm just going to miss you guys." She said honestly.

Emily gave her oldest daughter a sad smile, "We're going to miss you too." She said, dropping a light kiss to Parker's forehead.

"What's going on in here?" Paige asked as she came out of the bathroom to find Emily sandwiched between Taylor and Parker.

Emily quickly shushed her as she gestured down to Taylor who was still asleep, earning an apologetic look from her wife, "Just had a couple of kids who couldn't sleep."

"Ah" Paige said in understanding with a quick nod as she walked across the room and flicked the light off before climbing into bed on the other side of Taylor.

The bedroom door creeped open further as Kacey poked her head in the room, "Got room for one more?" She asked not waiting for an answer as she made her way towards the bed.

"Not really." Paige grumbled, earning a disapproving look from Emily.

"Of course." Emily said, not hesitating to scoot closer to the middle of the bed, Parker following suit to make room as Kacey crawled in.

"I thought you all grew out of this." Paige said playfully as she sat up against the headboard and looked over at her two oldest daughters.

"You let Taylor sleep in here." Kacey pointed out quickly.

"She hardly ever sleeps in here." Paige retorted, "She's also not as big as me and your mom are. Unlike the two of you. This bed is not big enough for all of us."

"No you're totally right." Parker said nodding her head, "I vote mom off."

"I second that." Kacey wasted no time to say.

"Wait what?" Paige interrupted trying to stop whatever was happening, "You can't vote me out of my own bed."

"You're the one who said it wasn't big enough for all of us, so we are solving the issue." Parker stated with a smirk on her face, "It's called democracy. You're welcome."

"Mama we need one more for majority." Kacey added doing her best to hold in her laughter.

"Sorry babe, this is the last night with all my babies." Emily said with a small giggle, "I'm stuck with you forever so I could go without you for tonight."

Paige's jaw dropped playfully, "Betrayed by my own family." She said as she shook her head, but instead of leaving the bed she simply sank down under the covers and rested her head on the pillow, "I suppose I can deal with all of you for one more night."

"Perfect. Now that that problem's solved, I got dibs on the remote." Parker said, reaching over Kacey and grabbing it off the nightstand.

"You have to keep it down though guys because Taylor is actually trying to sleep." Emily said earning nods from both girls.

Paige shook her head as she watched Kacey and Parker giggle and talk in hushed voices along with Emily as they flipped through the tv channels, Taylor cuddling closer to her side in her sleep. Paige couldn't help but smile at the sight, a feeling of bitter sweetness washing over her as she realized this is the last time she would have all of her girls together like this.

She dreaded waking up in the morning and having to send Parker off to college. And the following year when she would have to send Kacey. And she knew the few years after that that it would take before Taylor would be out of the house would fly by fast which she dreaded as well. Then it would be nothing but her and Emily in this big house. And the dog, they'd have the dog too. Paige smiled at the thought. She guesses nothing but her, Emily, and the dog doesn't sound so bad after all.

Paige turned her head slightly and caught Emily's eye, a light smile gracing her wife's lips making one form on her own face. Emily mouthed an 'I love you' and Paige returned it immediately, despite her kids growing up she had never failed to feel happier with each day that passed.


End file.
